scar tissue
by SasuSaku Forever and Ever
Summary: She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.
1. first there's a cut

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

_Sure, he knew what he was doing was wrong. Damn him to hell, if you must._

_He thrust once, then twice, pinching the nipples of his sex toy while spilling his hot cum over her. She cried out in pain at his roughness._

_"Shut up, bitch, you'll like it."_

_The girl sniffed once, trying to kiss him. She always tried to kiss him. And he always refused._

_"No," he muttered, slapping her hand away harshly. She shrieked slightly, before holding it to her breast, looking at the red slap mark he had made._

_After making sure she realized how big he was, Sasuke rolled over, catching his breath before saying—_

_"Get out."_

_"But—but Sasuke-kun!" she began, desperate for his love._

_"Leave, Karin. Now."_

_She whimpered, grabbed her clothes, and left the room. He slammed the door behind her. _

_Sighing, he stared at his limp member. Throwing away the condom, he stared at his manhood. _

_He hadn't ever reached a climax. Sure, the tension built up, but it never reached its highpoint, no matter which girl he used for the day. Or afternoon. Or night._

_He was feeling evil, wicked, sinful—plenty more than usual. He deserved to be damned to hell, to pay for all the misery he'd caused. He was the spawn of the devil, a heartbreaking Ted Bundy._

_Sasuke wanted a virgin. A girl of innocence. Pure, untouched, untainted until he fucked her brains out until they came out as sweet, sweet cum._

_And so he met her._

_

* * *

_

**Because nobody goes through life without a scar.**

_—Carol Burnett._

**s**_e_p**t**_e_m**b**_e_r **t**_w_e**l**_f_t**h**_, _8**:**_2_3

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I am sixteen years old, and I enjoy living life to the fullest very, very much."

Sakura stared out at the group of teenagers who would be her classmates. They yawned, bored with her introduction. Bored with _her_. All they cared about was boyfriends, girlfriends, sex, drugs, alcohol, parties...they had been with each other since Kindergarten, and didn't care for a new girl coming in to destroy the balance.

The boys perked up at hearing a feminine voice speak, and eyed her body, which made her uncomfortable. She looked away to the side nervously, their eyes traveling from her pretty face (the silky pink hair, the flawless peaches 'n' cream skin, the sparkling jewels for eyes, rosy red lips—) to her beautiful, petite body (large but not too large breasts, very curvy, thighs of nice size, long legs, firm, tight ass—). They could compare her to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and she'd _still _look prettier.

Judging by the attention she was given and how she responded, Sasuke raised an eyebrow from the back of the room. Then he smirked.

He, along with everyone else, could tell that she was a _virgin_. So, closing his eyes and folding his hands, the smirk still on his face, he thought of everything he would do to make her his next victim.

.

.

.

Sakura was nervous. Did they like her? Hate her? After all, she was at least a year or two younger than everyone else.

She sat down next to a redhead with glasses, who was chewing gum rather loudly and texting quickly, her keyboard-phone worn out from pressing all the buttons. An iPod was blasting music into her ears, and Sakura smiled slightly, trying to catch her attention.

"Hi," she said, trying to make a new friend, or at least a good impression, on the first day. "I'm Sakura."

"I know," the girl said rudely, sighing dramatically as she took an earbud out. Sakura frowned. She thought back to what she did to make the redhead angry at her.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked, a little quieter this time. She instantly regretted it, because the girl flipped her phone shut so loudly that the cover nearly flew off.

"None of your business, bitch," she replied coolly, blowing a bubble into Sakura's face, aiming for her hair. "If I stuck this gum in your hair, you know, you probably wouldn't notice because it's the exact _same fucking color _as your _fucking pink hair_."

This aroused snorts and giggles from the girls, and "ooohhs..." from the guys, who wanted to see a bitchfight start with the new girl. "Fight, fight, fight, fight!" they began, chanting, lead by a boy with brown hair and an overcoat with a dog.

Sakura observed the girl. Her shirt was too tight, her implants were fake (and were done badly), and her miniskirt was indeed _miniscule. _Yup, she just scored a perfect ten on the Hooker scale.

Looking around, Sakura saw that every other girl was exactly like the redhead.

So she knew she wouldn't fit in.

.

.

.

Sakura walked down the hall, head tilted to her feet. She was embarrassed, beyond embarrassed, and she knew that she hadn't made a good first impression with everyone. She knew that she didn't belong in this crowd of prestigious kids. Girls stopped to laugh at her hair, or her hand-me-down uniform, and boys stopped to make sexual remarks or wolf whistles. And Uchiha Sasuke thorougly examined her, because she would be his prize trophy in his collection of fucks.

The good never had it easy, anyway. They all died young.

.

.

.

"Hi, I'm Naruto! Dattebayo!" a blonde screamed, his voice louder than the usual person's. His blue eyes twinkleled under the ceiling lights, and he said, "I heard you're new!"

"Yeah," Sakura said nervously. He seemed nice enough. "I'm Sakura."

Naruto grinned, his two front teeth visible to the molars. His mouth was sort of like Julia Roberts's—maybe he was a loudmouth. It fit.

"You're a real babe, you know that?" Naruto said, his hands folded behind his neck. He continued to grin, as if it was as normal to say that as it was breathing.

Sakura felt uncomfortable. "Thank...you?" she said. This conversation was getting awkward. She turned to leave.

"Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," he said, a hand on her shoulder. "I just...I just get nervous around a really pretty girl. You know?" Naruto said, tripping over his words. Sakura could see that he was sincere.

She smiled a true smile at him. "Thanks," she said. "That's very sweet of you."

Everyone who was walking in the halls stopped to stare at the new girl, and the King of Ramen and Loudmouths, wondering what they'd do next. When they were continuing to stare into each other's eyes like a lovesick couple, the crowd grumbled, and moved away.

"Well, I gotta go, Sakura-chan. My best friend Sasuke-teme is waiting for me. Bye-bye!" he waved, not looking where he was going. Because of that, he had an imprint on his face the shape of a locker.

.

.

.

A girl in a blonde ponytail walked up to Sakura. Her hair was so fucking long, it needed to be fucking _cut_. She probably hadn't cut it since, what, forever? There's a limit, Sakura thought. Her uniform was bunched up, rising just below her braline, and her skirt was midthigh. Her figure wasn't even that pretty. It was absolutely _disgusting_.

"You loser, why are you wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants? Are you like, a lesbo or something?"

This girl was exactly like the redhead.

"N-No," Sakura stuttered, scared of what the blonde would do to her next. She didn't like this place at all. This school was full of madmen.

"Out of my way, bitch."

She pushed Sakura into a locker, and she winced, holding her shoulder in pain. The girl laughed at her pain, and stomped on her foot.

"You're weak."

As she turned to leave, she saw the redhead approach, and welcomed her with a, "Hey, Karin!" while linking arms together, sharing an earbud.

Sakura wanted to cry.

* * *

**1**_1_:**1**_1_

In the bathroom stall, Sakura pulled up her shirt and winced at the purple spots all over her body—on her back, on her stomach, on her ribs, knees, calves, feet, neck, arms...

She rolled up the sleeves that hid scars that had healed overnight, and say the layers of black and blue and purple and green and yellow surround every inch of her skin. Rolling up her pant legs, she gently touched a large bruise on her leg, wincing slightly at the feel.

Her most private parts—the breasts, her derriere, her thighs, her womanhood, those were all untouched. At least, for now.

Sakura wasn't a selfharmer. No, it was quite the opposite.

She was an abused child.

.

.

.

Sasuke had overheard the conversation between Saskura and Ino. Really, he expected more of her—to fight back, to start a riot of some sort, (that would have made her all the more fun), but he realized it was only her first day and everyone was gang-banging up on her, closing her out from the crowd, excluding her.

He saw the pained expression in her eyes, cloudy with unshed tears and confusion. He never really understood why girls were so weak sometimes, and why they couldn't take it like men could. Remembering back one time where he fucked Ino, and decided that she wasn't worth it, he would have paid to see her expression when he left her. So he fucked her again. And again. And again.

Sure, he was a sadist of some sort. A sadistical heartbreaker. But other than that, no, he hated Ino. She was so fucking annoying! He had to shut her mouth when she screamed, because really, all she could do _was _scream. She didn't do anything, during sex, or in real life. She just had someone else help her and let them do the dirty work, taking the credit for herself.

He'd rather give up his days as a player than listen to her scream and act pitiful all the time.

But their rally—it made him think. Why _did _she wear those clothes? Sure, she probably got in on a scholarship, and not on money (judging by the condition of the uniform), but it was September, and it was an Indian summer, too. Outside was a fucking _ninety degrees _and yet she was wearing a long-sleeved turtleneck with matching pants.

Could she really be a lesbian? No, she didn't seem like the type.

But she was hiding something, and he would find out no matter at what cost.

.

.

.

Sakura straightened her clothes and exited the bathroom. She'd spent a good fifteen minutes in the stalls, making sure to put extra ointment on each hurt-mark. Did anyone notice how long she stayed in there? Or did they not care?

They shouldn't have, judging by the way they treated her. It was as if she were an animal, a stray dog begging for food, and they'd kicked it aside like an unwanted toy. But their punishment for the dog was far better than Sakura's, and she felt jealous of the dog, wishing that at least, she could be it.

Sasuke was about to approach her, calmly, slowly, quietly—to touch her, put his hand up her skirt and squeeze, fondle her, finger—

Naruto beat him to greeting her. Running up behind the girl, he squeezed her tightly, and she let out an audible gasp—half in shock, half in pain.

"Sorry, too tight?" he asked, rubbing his head in embarrassment, blushing slightly. "I'm always unsure of how tight I hug people. You know?" Naruto continued as Sakura tried to fix herself.

Naruto's eyebrows shot up, and he screamed. "Teme!" He gave Sasuke a noogie and a headlock. Nodding to Sakura, he said, "Teme, this is Sakura! She's new!"

"I know," Sasuke said, putting on his pokerface. Yes, he was upset that Naruto interrupted his time, but he shouldn't show emotion anyway. That's how the players make millions.

"So you're Sasuke?" Sakura asked, holding her hand out for a handshake.

"Hn."

He grabbed her hand and shook it, his vice grip hurting her. She bit her tongue, trying not to wince, until he let go and the taste of metallic liquid was filling her mouth.

The bell rang.

"I guess I'll see you both later," she said in pain. A little bit of blood stained the porcelain teeth, but Sasuke overlooked the fact.

As she turned to walk away, Naruto saw Sasuke smirk.

"Don't even try, teme. You won't use her, got it? I like her, not like your other sluts. Really, teme, lay off her for me. She's special."

"We'll see, dobe. After all, she will be special to me..."

They didn't know how right they were.

* * *

**r&r plz, dont hit and run! (hit && run = read/dont review)**

**fail at angst lawlzzzz. actually hdd this idea since april xD**

**love always xoxo,**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	2. second, the blood flows

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**reply to; **unisawr (because your review actually meant a lot to me! (in a good way)):

_Hopefully this won't turn out to be a cliche, 'cause I'm already seeing some signs [abuse... probably by the father right? - Ino&Karin as the sluts, etc] but your style of writing is slowly tilting the scale - so Imma give this a shot. After all, not many people can make swear words sound so poetic._

_ Now Sasuke here, you have him portrayed as the whole playboy kinda guy -and a sadistic one at that [nice touch, nice touch]- so I hope he doesn't suddenly go bi-polar one day, and turn out to be a sympathetic, compassionate person deep down when he discovers Sakura's supposedly abusive lifestyle [cause I've seen way-way too many renditions of that] Character development is a must! though I'm not criticizing you for that, since it's only been the first chapter, but this aspect is so critical (and so many writers seem to forget it) that it must be reminded of._

**answer; **hopefully it's not a cliche. and yes, you're right about the father abuse, karin is an important part of the story and i just hate ino, so i thought i should bash her too while i'm already bashing karin. and no, sasuke doesn't turn bipolar. like, immediately. later on, with little baby steps, but it's not that obvious until one part of the story. thanks again for your review!_  
_

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sasuke knew that Sakura would give in to him soon. No other girl couldn't, so she wouldn't be any different. Sure, she would play hard-to-get, like some others, and then succumb to his charms.

"So you love them and leave them, hm?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke chuckled. "More like _fuck _them and leave them."

"You're sick, teme. Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you," Naruto growled in disgust, scowling at Sasuke, who was smirking.

"Sometimes I do, too," Sasuke said, another deep chuckle escaping his throat.

Naruto walked away in silence.

.

.

.

He thought of all the things he would do to her. He would fuck her in every way possible known to man, and then he would pleasure her, suck her, touch her, feel her, just like she would do to him. And he would do the dirty, sex her up, and then—

"Goodbye. Thanks for the fuck."

But if they were lucky, or he was just bored, they would get a second time. Or a third. Or maybe more, like Karin.

He didn't love her. Or even _like_. Sasuke hated her, but she was the best fuck buddy he'd ever had.

But she loved him. He didn't know if it was real love, or just clingy obsessive "love," but when he chose somebody else for the night, she was heartbroken. Because Sasuke was _hers_.

So, like Sasuke, Haruno Sakura would be _her _next victim.

.

.

.

Sasuke ran his eyes over her body. From a distance, he and everyone else saw the big picture.

She was pure, innocent, absolutely a natural beauty...

And a _virgin_.

But that part was already obvious.

Most, if not all of the girls he'd done had had sex before. Even if Konoha High School was an incredibly famous, strict private schol, at least ninety percent of the students were promiscious one time or another. Even one of the most sweetest girls, Hyuuga Hinata, had done it with a boy. Kiba, perhaps? He'd boasted about it to everyone, except he didn't know why she closed her eyes every time he went into her.

Probably because she was thinking of Naruto, who only thought of her as a good friend and nice classmate.

So Sasuke wanted Sakura even more.

Yes, he would leave a fine scar on her.

(It would make a one-of-a-kind addition to her collection).

.

**two weeks later.**

.

Sasuke planned his moves slowly. He didn't want to go to fast, and seem suspicious—it would totally throw off the whole thing.

He'd given her some time to get accustomed to the school before making his move. Two weeks seemed like enough.

Sakura concentrated on her schoolwork, sweating slightly and gripping her pen tighter than usual. She felt someone's eyes watching her back, and it scared her—just a bit.

She didn't dare turn around to look them in the eye. But judging by everyone's hushed chatter, she simply knew that it was Uchiha Sasuke.

.

.

.

He grabbed her arm stealthily and covered her mouth with his hand as the bell rang. No one saw, but they knew that in an hour, both would be coming out of the janitor's closet wit hsex hair and cum.

She tried to scream, but he put his hand over her mouth even tighter. Sasuke then pushed her into an empty classroom, locking the door.

"What the f—?" Sakura began. She was hurting, the grip on her bruised arm made her wince. But she held the cry back.

Sasuke pushed her onto a desk, smirking. "I'll fuck you hard, and you'll like it," he muttered, licking her neck. Sakura threw her head back in pain and shouted.

"No—stop! Don't," she begged as he began getting her clothes off.

Sasuke's mind said: playing hard to get. No means yes.

But she meant no. Puling her clothes towards her so that he couldn't see her scars and bruises, along with her other abused imperfections. He was about to pry her arms away when she kicked him in the crotch. _Hard_.

Sasuke doubled over in pain, clutching his groin. He was on his knees, growling.

"You pink _bitch,_" Sasuke snarled, while Sakura unlocked the door and screamed for Naruto.

.

.

.

Sakura cried. She wanted to cry, she _would _cry. This was no laughing matter.

Everyone saw her leave—and soon after, about ten minutes, Sasuke walked out casually, as if he hadn't been stood up. As if he wasn't kicked in the dick.

No one had ever rejected Uchiha Sasuke.

And they sure as hell wouldn't start _now_.

.

.

.

Karin watched through her glasses. That pink slut was such a weakling. But it meant that she could have Sasuke all to herself. And she laughed.

Such a happy ending.

.

.

.

Sakura jumped onto Naruto, who was outside alone, drinking a juice-box while sitting on top of the picnic table. She threw her arms around him. She was breathing heavily, as if she'd ran all the way to him.

He was unsure what to do, because he wasn't the one experienced with girls. So he put his hands on her back and waist, patting slowly.

Then, when he felt wetness on his neck and shoulder, he saw that she was _crying_.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" Naruto whispered.

She nodded and sobbed, clutching Naruto tighter to her.

"Shh, it's okay, Sakura-chan. It's okay," he whispered, even though it was far from okay.

They stood there in silence.

* * *

He'd only known this girl for a week or so, but it felt like forever. Naruto walked up to Sasuke, fists bunched up. Sasuke was listening to his iPod, tilting his chair back, alone. Metallica blasted through his earbuds.

"You _dick_."

Naruto's fist met Sasuke's jaw, and Sasuke pulled an earbud out, growling.

"The fuck?" Sasuke snarled. He put the iPod back in his pocket.

"You hurt Sakura-chan."

Sasuke wanted to laugh. "Your point is...?"

Naruto couldn't believe it. "You digust me, teme."

He smirked, putting an earbud back in while he scrolled through songs in his pocket. "She's unique—no question. And I _will _have her."

"Don't you fucking _dare_—"

Sasuke patted Naruto's shoulder. "Don't worry, you can have her afterwards."

And he left the scene, chuckling to himself.

.

.

.

Sakura hurried home, eyes swollen and red.

_He raped me he raped me the bastard fucking tried to rape me, _she thought, wiping away excess tears.

And Sakura was scared, knowing it wouldn't be the last time. Because now, she had troubles everywhere—at home and at school. So when she stepped into her home, she was welcomed by a string of curse words and a glass bottle shattering on her back.

.

.

.

Sasuke was thinking—today was one of those days where he didn't have a girl over. It was his personal time, "Sasuke-time."

He thought of how she pushed him away and kicked him (which made him wince at the thought). Then again, thinking back, he didn't mean to call her a bitch. Well, he sort of did.

Sasuke closed his eyes and realized how pretty she actually was. Gorgeous. Stunning. Absolutely beautiful. Her face wasn't caked in makeup, or body smelled like she was bathed in perfume. No, she had this appealing, natural honey-sweet scent that he actually _liked_.

Sure, he'd seen a lot of other girls that were beautiful, but never one that was a natural beauty. The things that cosmetic makeups and plastic surgery can do.

He knew that he liked her—of course, not in the romantic "let's settle down and have kids and be mine forever" sort of way. In the intriguing way. Like an 1000 piece puzzle that frustrated the hell out of you but made you want to continue nonetheless.

But then he thought about what Naruto said.

_If you hurt her, I will _kill _you_.

Just try, dobe.

* * *

**yeahh. reviews, please? reviews make my life. if you want me to stop writing, don't review. so review, plawks. =D**

**wuv youuh.**

**rhyrhy, will you marry me for a fourth time? LOLOLOLOL ILY. i still kept the ring you gave me from one of those vending machines you put a quarter in. xD jkjk. OUR LOVE IS THE RING.**

**love always xoxo,**

**-ohh, &&xena**

**P.S. ten more days until FML's first year anniversary!  
**


	3. third, you prepare a bandage

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

_If you hurt her, I will fucking _kill _you, _Sasuke's mind echoed with Naruto's voice, usually happy and careless, but now serious and somber.

Tch. As if anyone could kill, or even _hurt _the great Uchiha Sasuke. He was practically invincible.

But after he fucked Haruno, he might keep her—only if she could be the first girl to get him to orgasm. Or if she was just good. Maybe he wouldn't give the whore to Naruto. She'd be his until the next slut came around.

And Sasuke was pleased, removing his shirt and pants.

He had a wet dream about her that night.

.

.

.

Sakura was on the floor, a puddle of blood surrounding her. She smiled, just a bit—usually her "welcome home" was far worse than this.

"Clean it up," her father said, kicking her. She moaned softly, being used to the pain.

There was a sharp jab in her ribs, and she screamed.

"Clean it up!" he shouted once more, kicking her in the ribs again. She slowly got up, her back aching from the shards of glass sticking out of her skin.

Coughing up blood, she struggled to get up, before shaking, falling back onto her knees.

A ick in the back of her head made her unconscious, drowning in her blood.

.

**one week later.**

.

Sakura wasn't in school for a week—five unexcused absences. The office had called her home, which left no response back.

Naruto worried. And secretly, so did Sasuke. The two had drifted further apart the past month ever since Sakura came. Both were worried about her. And they didn't beileve in bros before hoes—at least, not with this girl. She wasn't close to being a hoe. Not at all.

And Sasuke had never seen Naruto so unhappy.

.

.

.

Naruto was in the park, sitting on the swings. He thought about Sakura—was she too traumatized that she'd skipped the whole week of school because of Sasuke? What would her parents think?

He thought back on how he and Sasuke became friends. They were about seven, on the same park area Naruto was on now. Sasuke already had a group of girls his age to fourteen chasing him around, along with the few mothers who wanted to kidnap him and claim him as their child.

So Naruto helped him stop the girls, since Sasuke was too stoic to say anything. And later they kept hanging out, becoming best friends.

At eleven, Sasuke realized what girls would do for him. He started learning how to unhook bras with one hand, suck on a girl's nipples, and not hesitate to put his hand down her pants or up her skirt.

At fourten, he gave his virginity to an engaged woman, ten years older than him, who later broke the engagement off with her fiance for him, which, not surprisingly, he refused. The woman committed suicide a week later.

And right now, at seventeen and a half, he was so promiscuous that he had to be checked for STDs weekly.

Even through all of that, Sasuke shared his most valuable secret to Naruto, his best friend—and Konoha's biggest blabbermouth.

Sasuke had never been kissed, and never wanted to.

.

.

.

Naruto had never had sex, or been kissed, either. Yes, he was cute, but not handsome like Sasuke. He always wondered why he was still friends with an absolutely horrid person.

But they both knew that they were brothers, always friends. They weren't going to let 10 years of _bromance _go down the drain.

He hated the fact that he still loved Sasuke like a real brother, one he never had.

Sasuke didn't want to admit the same thing.

.

.

.

Sakura loved her life very, very much. But she knew that if her life_style _was kept up, she would be digging her own grave in the graveyard six feet under.

She wanted to get away from tou-san, from hell.

Run, fly, be free.

So she wore three pairs of baggy clothes over freshly wound bandages, and headed for her only safe sanctuary.

The park.

* * *

Sasuke was _beyond embarrassed._

He had just masturbated thinking about Sakura. And he almost got an orgasm.

He slapped himself vigorously, pulling at his hair. No, he couldn't succumb to masturbation. He needed the feel of a tight pussy when his cock was between their walls, and the touch of soft, baby skin against his own chiseled chest.

And the _moans_.

The sound that confirmed that he was pleasuring enough, and his own groans to make sure that the girl knew that _he _was being pleasured enough.

He couldn't give up sex for masturbating. It wasn't right.

Even fucking a sex toy was so much better.

But still—an orgasm while masturbating. About Sakura. He'd never reached one. Not even with Karin. Nobody. But just _thinking _about her made him feel just the same after a night with the redhead.

It felt _good_. Incredible, even.

Fuck. He needed to feel his dick in her wet pussy. And he wouldn't stop until he marked her.

.

.

.

Naruto could say that he cared for Sakura. He maybe even _liked _her. But it was too early for assumptions. So right now, she was only his friend. A good friend. He hadn't known her that well to say he was, but he felt that he had the right to call her his friend.

Looking up from the swingsets, he stared at the cherry blossoms, each petal flying throughout the park, one landing on his lap. He lifted it to his nose, smelled it, and closed his eyes—blinked—before a real cherry blossom was in his sight. It was much prettier than all the others, and so much more real.

He wanted to catch it.

Jumping off the swing, he ran towards it, calling out its name.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"

.

.

.

She froze. She couldn't run away—it'd be suspicious. Besides, Naruto was probably faster than her, anyway, even with a head start.

So she stood there, waiting for him to crush her bones in a bear-hug. Damn, he really needed to learn how to control his strength.

His footsteps got quieter; breathing heavy. "Hey, Sakura-chan. It's nice seeing you here."

"Yeah." She shuffled her feet, thinking how idiotic she just look with three layers of clothing. What an _idiot_. Her sanctuary was no longer her safe spot anymore. Nowhere was.

"You look hot," Naruto said. Then he stuttered. "Hot, er, I mean—as in temperature hot, not like porn star hot, but..."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion before she put a finger to Naruto's lips.

"I get it. I"m not feeling...warm." That was a better word.

"Yeah."

Sakura played with her sleeves.

"Why weren't you in school? Was it because of...?" he trailed off, until he saw her crying.

"N-No. I was sick," she sobbed. "F-Fever." She was such a bad liar.

He had upset her. "I'm sorry, it's not my business."

"No, it's not you," she lied again. "It's...something's in my eye!"

He watched her cover up her lies poorly, before grabing her in a gentle hug. "I'd never dream of hurting you, Sakura-chan."

"Then don't dream," she said back rather harshly before sobbing again.

She didn't push him awy nor return the hug. She just stood there, inhaling the scent of miso ramen on his face (lunch?), tangerine on his clothes.

"It's going to rain," Nartuo said, looking up at the gray clouds, feeling a raindrop on his nose. "We'll get wet."

He broke the hug, staring at her. "My house isn't far. We can stay there, if it's okay with your parents."

"Okay."

* * *

**sorry ive been out of it, guys. ive been watching 1 litre of tears and you're beautiful (OMFGGG CUTEST DRAMA EVER). LOL. and i got hooked, so yah.**

**im preparing the newest chapter of FML...which i dont necessarily like but im updating in honor of the 1 yr anniversary.**

**kthxbai. i wuv u rhyrhy. LOL. wifeyyyforlifeyyy.  
**

**-ohh, &&xena  
**


	4. fourth, you stop the bleeding

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

"Mom? Dad? I have a friend over. This is Sakura-chan," Naruto said, unlocking the door. To everyone's surprise, they all blushed, Sakura hiding behind Naruto nervously as Minato and Kushina broke apart from their hot, half-naked make out session on the wall, their clothes off. Sort of.

"Naruto-chan, I thought...well, never mind," Kushina said, laughing nervously. "Welcome, Sakura-chan, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

She held out a hand, still half-naked in all her birthday suit glory, and Sakura took it, hesitating. It's not everyday you see a pretty half-naked woman strutting around freely, even in the comfort of her own home.

"Do we have any ramen? I'm hungry. Sakura-chan, do you want anything to eat?" Naruto said, walking towards the pantry while Minato had his shirt on backwards.

"I'm okay," she said quietly, Kushina finally dressing into...relatively decent clothing. Sex clothes weren't exactly, uhm, neat. And, Sakura thought, she spot a little bit of...err, jizz on there. Just on the side.

Naruto began warming water up for his ramen, and Sakura nervously looked down at her feet while Kushina tipped a finger under her chin.

"You're too pretty to look down, sweetie," Kushina smiled as Sakura blushed. "I want to see your face."

She held Sakura's chin as she observed her thoroughly, Sakura turning redder and redder each moment.

"No wonder. Any boy would fall for you if he could see past everything else."

Sakura wasn't sure if she was supposed to thank her, so she smiled nervously before looking down again. The kettle screeched, and Naruto turned it off, pouring the water in the noodles and stirring them around gently, tasting them.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, Sakura-chan? Tell me anytime if you're feeling hungry."

"Hai," she said, giving a nod to both Kushina and Minato before leaving with Naruto up to hang out in his room.

Kushina sighed, laying her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I'm glad Naruto found someone he likes."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to continue where we last left off?"

"Definitely.

.

.

.

"I hope my parents didn't embarrass you," Naruto said as he began slurping down his noodles. "They can be a little weird sometimes."

"No, they're fine. I like them. Your parents are nice."

Naruto laughed, a noodle sticking out of his mouth. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. I bet yours are, too!"

Sakura froze for a second. A second too long.

"Sakura-chan? Are you okay?"

She shook her head back into reality. "I'm fine, Naruto. I was just spacing out."

He laughed. "That happens to me all the time." Taking the noodles in between his chopsticks, he leaned over to Sakura and held them to her mouth.

"Eat some. It makes me feel better."

She opened her mouth cautiously, and he frowned. "Come on, Sakura-chan. Open wider. Here, it's not hot, I'll blow on it for you."

As his breath touched the noodles, she smiled at what a kind, sweet, and compassionate heart he had.

"Here comes the train! Choo choo! Thomas the choo choo train!"

Sakura laughed, and when she opened her mouth, she felt warm chicken ramen sliding down her throat.

She began to laugh, spitting the noodle soup down onto the floor.

.

.

.

Until Karin came, he waited. He grabbed his cock and began pumping furiously, groaning and throwing his head back until he came, his warms sticky and hot.

Damn, it felt so good. This is what sin felt like, the rush of euphoria, the pleasure of the forbidden fruit.

But she was so innocent, and so unlike sin.

He honestly didn't know what was going on with him anymore. It had been a month.

That was a month too long.

Sasuke knew he couldn't wait forever for this bitch. Hell, he wouldn't even wait another second.

But he realized that if he wanted her so badly, he'd have to wait. He knew the quote _good things come to those who have to wait._

She had better be damn good, or else he'd have wasted everything for nothing.

.

.

.

"I'll clean that up," Sakura muttered as she fumbled for a tissue. Naruto stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder. She winced, but he didn't seem to notice.

"It's fine, Sakura-chan. It's not carpet, and if it was anyway, you don't have to worry. It's not a big deal." He gave one of his trademark grins and ruffled her hair, and she couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely! See, I'll even lick it up like a cat!" he said, imitating a neko slurping milk out of a bowl.

She began to laugh again, holding her fist to her mouth in order to keep the chuckles in. She'd never laughed like this before, and the experience was totally new to her.

Naruto stopped, wiping up the liquid with his sleeve. He turned to face Sakura, sitting across from her, and his face became serious.

"Sakura-chan."

She stopped laughing, and she put her fist down. "Is something wrong?"

He held her by her shoulders, and she tried not to cry out.

"I want to see you laugh more. I don't ever want to see you cry, because you're honestly too pretty to cry. When you laugh, you make me and I bet other people happy just to see your smile."

She was touched. No one had ever said something like that to her. She felt the tears welling up, but stopped them by feigning a laugh.

"Thank you. That means a lot."

He smiled, ruffling her hair. "I want what I say to be positive. I can't stand saying something horrible to someone and regretting it. One time, a long time ago, a bully said something mean to another classmate when I was younger. Everyone knew that he kept taunting him, and hurting him, and beating him, and the bully finally said, 'I wish you were dead!' A day later, the boy committed suicide. The bully was sent to an asylum because he couldn't handle the guilt."

"Oh," Sakura said. She had nothing else _to _say, anyway.

"So I don't want to be like the bully. I want to say only good words, but make sure they're words that I mean!" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Dattebayo!"

"Hai, Naruto," she agreed. "Dattebayo."

.

.

.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun," Karin flirted as he opened the door. He snorted, grabbing her wrist and pulling her in the house while he slammed the door.

"You want me so much? Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're so sweet," Karin said as she tried to kiss him. He growled, pushing her away.

"I don't want my neighbors to see you. They'll think I have no taste in appearances."

Karin frowned. "B-But I'm pretty!"

"Sure. Think what you want. Freedom of speech, religion, movement...whatever. Let's just go upstairs and fuck."

She giggled, pushing her red hair back and running her fingers down to his crotch. "I've bet you've been waiting for me, haven't you, honey? Look how aroused you are. I know you missed me. I missed _you_."

"Shut up."

He ripped her clothes off and began putting on a condom. Before she could take his clothes off, he'd already unzipped his jeans and thrust into her fiercely while she screamed in pleasure. And in pain.

She knew that she meant absolutely _nothing _to him. But it would change, because, Karin thought, he would love her as much as she loved him.

* * *

**ik i havnet udpated in forever for thi stry. i got the main idea down but i dont feel like writing it LOLOLOL.**

**review please! can we make it to 80?**


	5. fifth, you clean the wound

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

"Get out. Now," Sasuke said after he removed the condom. He threw it in the trash. "Leave."

"Sasuke-_kun_," Karin moaned as she put her arms around his neck, clinging to him. "I want to stay with you!"

He pushed her off, and turned her head away as she pursed her lips, leaning into his. "Go away, or I'll _make _you."

"Sasuke-kun, don't be such a meanie. I an give you the time of your life, you know? Come on, sweetie, I know you're feeling horny right now. I can relieve you of that pain," she said, tickling her fingers down his crotch. He bit his lip, trying not to groan, but it came anyway. He pushed her out the door.

"Go. Now."

He heard her wail. "Sasuke-kun, I'm _naked_!"

Sasuke threw her clothes out the door. "Get dressed and go. You're annoying me, and the neighbors will see you. It'll be bad for my reputation."

He heard nonstop knocking at the door, and began sighing. "Go _away_. As if the first time wasn't clear enough."

Quiet (fake) sobs were heard from the other side of the door, and he frowned. The sex honestly wasn't worth it, if he had to deal with this everytime she came over. If he was over at her house, or in a cheap motel, he could just walk out and there would be no problems.

But this was _his _house. His property. His rules.

An Uchiha makes his own rules. And there are no exceptions around it.

.

.

.

They were on the bed, just the two of them. Lying next to each other.

Sakura held her knees to her chest and watched the TV screen move, unable to hear the words coming out from the speakers. Naruto was next to her, sweatshirt open to reveal his black shirt, and lying down with his hands behind his neck, his legs crossed.

"You want to change the channel?" Naruto asked as he handed her the remote. She shook her head.

"I'm okay. This is fine," she said, looking at the TV screen again. The character, whose name was also Naruto, had just finished a fight with another character that looked just like Sasuke. The ninja had a hole in his stomach and was bleeding in the water.

"Wow," Sakura said as she looked at all the blood. It used to scare her, but not anymore. After swimming around in her own blood, seeing it wasn't as bad.

"Too scary? I can change it, if you want. How about this one?" he said, turning it to an Asian drama; You're Beautiful, the Korean drama.

The girl, disguised as a boy in order to act as her twin for a while, was in a shopping cart as her three male friends pushed her around in the supermarket, late at night while tossing her various products.

Sakura watched as the girl sat there, smiling brightly while the men were pleased wit hher. She knew, automatically, that they all liked her, but she had to choose only one man.

And she knew that the nice guy never got the girl.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" she asked. She crouched even tighter, looking at Naruto.

"You okay? Hungry or anything?"

"I'm okay."

He turned over on his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. "You shouldn't hold it in. It's bad for you. Just let it all out. You can write it down, or tell someone about it. I don't write because I can't even read my own handwriting anymore," he chuckled. "But I like to talk to my parents, and they understand."

"Oh."

"I bet your mom would understand. You seem like someone whose best friend is their mother."

"Yeah. You're right." _We talk through our dreams_.

"You can always talk to me, too. I'm all ears," Naruto said, pointing at his fox-like ears. She laughed. He couldn't listen for his life, yet she knew that he would really listen to her if she wanted him to.

He was a sweet boy, Sakura thought. So innocent, so fun, so bright.

The opposite of Sasuke.

Then again, opposites do attract. And not just romantically.

Sakura felt her stomach rumble. She looked down at it, and Naruto laughed. "I knew you were hungry!" he exclaimed.

"You were right," Sakura said, laughing along. He held out his arm, like a butler, and he took it, laughing, while he walked her down the stairs, his head held high and proud.

She'd never had so much fun in her life.

.

.

.

She probably should've waited to come down, because Naruto's parents continued to do the dirty. Not on the wall this time, but on the table.

"Ugh, mom, that's gross. Dad, if you're gonna pork her, do it upstairs," Naruto groaned as he covered his eyes. Sakura tried not to look, but it was just so…she didn't know. People _want _to see the blood and gore at a car accident.

"Sorry, son," Minato shrugged, grinning the same way Naruto did, Sakura noticed. He packed his clothes over his shoulder, and carried his wife upstairs, his hands underneath her back and knees.

"I think I've lost my appetite," Sakura mumbled as she let go of Naruto's arm.

Her stomach told her otherwise.

.

.

.

Sasuke flipped on the TV channel, through Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, FUNimation, Food Network, ABC, Fox, Crime and Investigation Network, but finally stopped on a movie.

_500 Days of Summer, PG-13_

He had heard from the girls in his bed (and school!) that it was a good movie, and it was a shame that he didn't want to come watch it with them. He sighed, thinking of the memory already; tons of girls crying while he stared unfazed, wanting to sneak out and watch a horror movie.

The plot was simple.

Boy meets girl.

Boy falls in love with girl.

Girl doesn't.

However, it was something that people paid to see, so he sat back and let the channel stay, ready to fall asleep at any time.

The main character had spent 500 days with a girl named Summer.

But at the end, he decided to move on. To give up on her.

"What's your name?" he asked his new date.

She smiled at him with her full, red lips.

"Autumn."

He had to laugh at the irony.

.

.

.

Life was a cruel thing, Sakura thought as she sipped her ramen slowly. The fun had to end sometime soon. It wasn't fair. Nothing was.

Her life wasn't fair.

"Is something troubling you?" Naruto said, putting his own finished ramen down.

"No. Nothing," she said. "I'm okay."

He scratched his head, pursing his lips while adjusting his headband. She saw her reflection in the metal.

"Hey, Naruto?" she said, putting down her own ramen. She was going to tell him something that could've given her whole life away…

"Do you want this ramen?" she said instead, giving him the bowl. He took it, saying, "Is something wrong with it? Do you not like it? Are you sure you don't want something else?"

"I'm okay," Sakura said. "I'm full, anyway. You eat it. I know how much you like ramen."

He smiled, taking her chopsticks and performing the eating ritual. "Itadakimasu!"

While he was eating, she saw her reflection from a different perspective. While she was sweating, she saw that her throat was covered in purple. She pulled her collar up.

Her cheek was turning red, too.

It was from the slap the night before.

"Are you sick? Your face is red," Naruto mentioned as he put his hand on Sakura's forehead. She inched away from his touch. Someone so pure, like him, couldn't touch something so dirty. She'd never forgive herself for that.

"No, I'm fine," she said, taking his hand away from her face. "I'm totally fine."

_I'm a bad liar_, she thought as she saw Naruto's face frowned. He obviously didn't believe her.

.

.

.

Sasuke was asleep on the armchair, his head lying on the black pillow behind his seat. Slowly, he blinked his eyes, began rubbing, and yawned, stretching his arms. It was seven o'clock now. The movie was already over, and he saw that he was in the midle of another movie.

_P.S. I Love You _glowed on the screen.

Sasuke groaned. Sad love stories were always like this, especially in Asian darmas. Someone has leukemia, then dies. Yet people paid to watch tehm anyway, because it was so touching and sad and emotional. Something that he didn't have. Emotions.

Gerald Butler's wife in the movie was reading his note about the karaoke machine. He saw the actress make a fool of herself on stage, and smirked. He probably wanted to embarrass her or something, by holding a grudge and having her complete them.

Damn, he felt horny. He could feel his erection rising through his sweats, and did nothing to stop it from coming up. It was natural, and he didn't mind.

If the simple thought of just Sakura could give him a boner, without any dirty things happening to her, she was surely a good bed.

He couldn't wait.

.

.

.

"Sakura-chan, do you think your parents will worry?" Naruto asked as they sat on his bed facing each other. "You should give them a call, or something."

Sakura waved it off.

"No, they know where I am. I think it's okay," which was a lie. She didn't care anymore. The fun was so great, she wanted to savor every moment.

"You sure? Don't want to double check?"

"I'm sure," she said, gritting her teeth. Right now she didn't want to think of home. Ever. Not while she was having the time of her life.

"Okay," Naruto said, putting his cell phone back in his pocket. "If you want, you can sleepover! I mean, not in the same bed, of course, but, like…as friends. You know?" Naruto said, nervously blushing with every word.

Sakura thought for a moment. Naruto. Otou-san. Naruto. Otou-san.

She knew the automatic winner.

"Yeah, if it's okay with your parents."

Naruto grinned, rubbing his neck. "They're totally fine with it! I have friends sleepover all the time, like the teme, and they don't mind at all. The only thing my dad's scared of is him raping me in my sleep, but obviously he's straight, so that's not an issue."

Sakura didn't say anything, she just looked down at her hands.

"Did I say something that upset you?"

"No. It's just…I'm tired. I think I might actually head on out early. Catch some Z's," she said, trying to make her voice cheerier.

Naruto got off the bed.

"You can sleep here, if you don't mind the smell of me on my pillows. I can sleep on the floor or the couch. It's totally fine, anyway," Naruto said. "Do you need some clothes? You can use one of my shirts, and I think we have a spare toothbrush somewhere…"

He was obviously more energetic than he should've been for a boy, as if he'd never had a sleepover with a girl before.

"Don't worry about it. I can take care of it. Take care of yourself, first," she smiled, thinking about how this boy put others ahead of him before himself.

She didn't see much of those people anymore.

.

.

.

Wet dreams were common for Sasuke. His sheets were often laundered every day, twice or more if he had had sex. He didn't want to smell the juices coming from every skank he bedded.

He made himself comfortable in the bathtub, warm water surrounding him, shampoo in his hands, rubbing it onto his scalp. He moaned at the sensation he was receiving, and dove under the bathtub, feeling his hair escape several different places, kept only by the follicles.

When he got up, he wiped the hair out of his face and eyes. He put conditioner in his hair, repeating the same process, except leaving it on for a longer amount of time.

Staring down at his chest, at his beautifully carved abs, he smirked at how each and every girl swooned as they got to touch it. To feel it on top of their own skin.

He was a god. Sasuke already knew that. He was worshiped and praised and given gifts of love.

Even so, he still wasn't happy.

.

.

.

Sakura was in the shower, her freshly washed panties on the side (courtesy of Kushina), with Naruto's bright orange shirt that reached down to her midthigh.

The shower felt warm and good against her skin, cleansing her, and washing all the impurities down the drain. Using the soap, she rubbd in the most private places of a woman, feeling the soap glide along the wet skin.

She'd never had a shower like this in a long, long time.

Naruto was downstairs eating dinner, and decided he would wash in his parents' room. It was by then, nine o'clock, and he yawned trudging up the stairs.

"I'm so tired," he said, rubbing his full stomach. He went into the master bathroom, and turned on the water.

Then he stopped, groaned, and turned the water off. There was no shampoo.

"I'll have to borrow it from Sakura-chan," he thought as he went to go to his own bathroom where she was showering.

He didn't hear the sounds of the water dripping, as she had turned it off, staying behind the curtain to dry off.

Reaching in through the curtain, he fiddled for the shampoo bottle, unable to grasp it. He looked for a better view, and saw her.

Naked. Beautiful.

Bruised.

He nearly gasped and dropped the shampoo bottle. She hadn't heard, nor seen. Quickly, he left, without even closing the door. In his own room, he gasped for breath against the shower, an erection under his jeans.

He had never seen a live naked woman before. At least, not in real life. In Sex Ed, yes, but…

This was not the first impression he wanted to make of a girl's body. But she was beautiful, the curves and the skin and everything was there.

But the scars and the bruises.

He put two and two together.

The clothes. The bruises. The touching. The plea for someone to not touch her. Any part of her.

He got it now.

Naruto had to tell someone. But his friendship was at stake. He couldn't risk it.

He kept quiet, for now.

* * *

**sry 4 not updating LOL. this was a pretty bad hcapter bc...yah i think it was. and the thing were naruto found out was inspried by nakatsu in hanakimi LOL where hs trying to get the shampoo and he sees mizuki inthe shower...so yeah LOL**

**asian dramas are win.**

**review. can we make it to 90?**


	6. sixth, you put the bandage on

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sakura thought that something wasn't right. She toweled off, secretly borrowing Naruto's ointment and putting them on her scars, wincing as it stung.

Folding the towel and putting it back on the rack to dry, she began to dress, slipping on the nightgown given to her.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw something.

The door was open.

_She didn't leave it open_.

Sakura stared at it for a little bit, before shaking her head. She was going crazy from the fun. Perhaps she didn't close it all the way and it had opened by the wind.

But Sakura was sure, so sure, that it was closed.

.

.

.

Naruto hurried to his room, shutting the door with a loud slam and breathing heavily, holding himself together.

In his mind there were images filled with Sakura and her body, the array of colors around her. For some reason, he noticed (embarrassingly) that her womanly parts, the private ones, were nearly immaculate, from her breasts to her derriere to her inner thighs to her…Naruto gulped.

She was abused. He knew that she wouldn't do this to herself, because she loved life, and everything in it. She wouldn't dare destroy the very thing that gave her joy.

From the look of her skin, this went on for some time. Maybe for her whole life, he thought as he began undressing.

He had to tell somebody. He couldn't keep it quiet.

But if he wanted to save her, he had to give up their friendship, too.

Naruto wanted to be selfish for himself for once.

He kept his mouth shut.

.

.

.

Sasuke had a seemingly perfect life. Though his parents never really approved of his behavior, and his brother hadn't either (he had gone on to lead a successful life, unlike Sasuke, whose only success was bedding women daily).

He gave up on trying to be the star of the family a long time ago, because nothing he seemed to do pleased his parents. He ignored them. Screw them, anyway. They know nothing.

And honestly, he was glad that he had done it, because it would've saved him the blood and sweat and tears trying to compete with his older brother. He had to admit that he was unbelievably good. But so was Sasuke.

He got out of the tub, air-drying. The water was making gurgling noises as it went down the drain, swirling. He swung his hair like a model would do, trying to dry it off as quick as he could, before wrapping a towel around his waist and going downstairs for a snack.

As he grabbed an iced tea from the fridge, he stopped and thought for a second, his head leaning against the magnets on the refrigerator. It was a number for a cleaning-service, when he just wasn't in the mood to clean up cum-covered sheets.

Sakura.

For some reason, she filled his mind nonstop. He noticed that she was with Naruto, almost all the time, and that the two were inseparable.

Just like the old times, with him and Naruto.

Immediately, he envied Sakura, but he knew that he shouldn't care anyway. He was going to get her anyway. Ruin her.

For some reason, he thought that funny, and began smirking, then chuckling quietly, before they turned into a full blown laugh, while he threw his head back and laughed his lungs out.

Naruto was right. Sometimes he really was a lion in a lamb's skin.

.

.

.

Sakura lied on the bed, the mattress feeling so soft. So weird compared to what she usually felt like. Hard wood under her back, warm blood streaming, dried blood cracking, several beatings and sexual threats haunting her dreams and her mind…

She turned on her side and watched the clock tick.

Sakura knew that she was going to get in major trouble tomorrow. But honestly, it was worth it if she could have a night of fun like this. This made up for everything and she knew it wouldn't last.

Naruto and his family had treated her so nicely, as if they were her own family. She wondered if her mom was anything like his, so sweet, so funny, so pretty…

Naruto was a sweet boy, she knew, and he was very cute, too. But she didn't think that she liked him…more than a friend. He was a special person to her, and she to him, but Sakura didn't have any romantic feelings that were present at the moment.

She wondered what he felt about her. Was it good, bad, or neutral? Was he still getting accustomed to her? She was still adjusting to his kind behavior, but that was her, and most of the time her opinion didn't matter.

Shivering, Sakura felt her body chill underneath the down blanket he had given her. She still wasn't warm enough. Though the blanket itself was very warming, just one didn't give her the warmth she needed. But she decided to shut up and enjoy this. She hadn't had a proper sleep in forever.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

.

.

.

"He's such a jerk!" Karin complained to herself as she put her clothes on, pushing her glasses up and combing her hair with her fingers. "But I know he loves me. He has to. It's impossible for him _not _to. I know that he favors me more than he favors any other whore."

She passed by the downtown area, where there were beggars on the streets, hookers waiting for men to pick them up, and druggies on the sidewalks, smoking pot while wolf-whistling at her.

Karin cast them a smirk, a flirtatious wink, and an air kiss. Just with that, she could make them feel hornier than a cactus.

She had experience with this.

Then, a woman, her dyed (badly) blonde, went up to her, her blue eyes begging. She sort of looked like Ino, except a lot better. A _lot_.

"Money…I want money…give me your money," she said, reaching for Karin's pockets.

"No!" she said, pushing her aside and stepping on her back with her high heels. "Don't touch me, you skank."

The woman sobbed as her heel dug into her back, and Karin stepped harder, making her moan in pain.

"Earn your money the way you always do. By sleeping around."

She felt no pity as the woman was left sobbing on her stomach.

.

.

.

Naruto couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling and counted sheep. Nothing worked.

In his mind, it was all Sakura. Sakura Sakura Sakura. Sweet Sakura, cute Sakura, pretty Sakura, beautiful Sakura.

Poor Sakura.

How could he have not noticed it before? But he realized that was a stupid question, because Sasuke hadn't called him "dobe" or "baka" for nothing. It was partially his fault, but for these kinds of things, he knew. He understood people, even if they didn't understand him.

Naruto wondered what she was doing now. Was she sound asleep, her head on his pillow, smelling him? Or was she also awake, wondering what was going on?

Quietly, he crept out of his bed, and went slowly to his own room where she slept. As the door was a crack open, he pushed it, wincing as it squeaked, and eyed around in the dark for a figure sleeping on his bed.

The bright orange shirt caught his attention, and then the pink hair. She was smiling, sleeping, and cozy. He saw that she shook (with nervousness? Tension? Was she cold?) often, but otherwise, she was like an angel.

He felt her body and realized that she was chilly. Grabbing another blanket from his closet, he draped it over her gently and sat next to her, stroking the stray locks of hair away from her face.

"You're so pretty, Sakura-chan. Like a picture."

She didn't hear him, and he was glad. As he took his hand away, he watched her breathe for a little bit, before lying his head down on her mattress and sleeping next to her while his knees were on the ground.

Ugh, he was sounding like Edward Cullen now, that creeper who goes in through girls' windows and watches them sleep.

He hoped he wasn't like that.

.

.

.

Sasuke imagined what she looked like naked. He figured she was pretty busty, considering her curves and her round ass, and how her mounds expressed themselves greatly through her shirt, but he wasn't certain.

Would her thighs be soft, smooth, like a baby's? Would her skin be like a flower petal, smelling warm and sweet? Would her cum be like licking honey up, all sticky and amazing?

His cock hardened as he visualized her in his bed, his naked body above hers, while she put her hands in his hair, pulling and tugging while her thighs were around his waist, straddling him, and her ankles crossed over behind his back while he positioned himself to penetrate her and thrust in so hard he thought his shaft would just go through her body.

Sakura would be wet, willing, and wanting. She wouldn't _not_ give in to him. Sasuke always got what he wanted. He wanted her.

He would have her.

.

**nine a.m.  
**.

Sakura blinked her eyes once, her vision fuzzy. Before she blinked again, the scenery became clearer, and she saw a flash of yellow in front of her. She was ready to scream, until she rubbed her eyes a final time and took a clear image of the picture.

Naruto?

He was by her bedside, as if he slept with her to comfort her. She saw that he had put an extra blanket on top of her, and she smiled, kissing his forehead gently. He cared so much for her, she couldn't even realize it.

Slowly, she tried to get out of the bed on the other side without waking him. Taking off her shirt that she had used, she picked up her previous clothes from the night before and put them on. She took a final look at Naruto, whispered, "_Arigatou_" to herself, and to him, and left.

The house continued to be silent.

* * *

**yeah, cait, i konw. wtf is up with narusaku and sasukarin? LOL**

**well firts of all, i hate sasukarin, so im tryingto put as little as ossible there, but its needed 4 the story. and second, though i like narusaku, i feel like that's gonna turn people away so i made it clear in this chtper that sakura think sof naruto as a FRIEND, but she doenst know what he efles like.**

**so yeah. was that a relatiely quick update?**

**and thansk for the reviews! im so happy! can we make it to 105 this time? tht would make my day. x3**

**love always xoxo,**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	7. seventh, throw away the wrapper

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

She knew, as she was walking home, that she would be dead by the time she could say anything. But it didn't matter. She had had the time of her life, and would do anything to replay those moments over and over again.

Naruto.

He was such a sweet man, so caring, so gentle...Sakura envied the woman he would spend the rest of his life with for having such an amazing husband. Sure, she liked Naruto, but not romantically. At least, not that she knew of.

But Sasuke...

His best friend. The playboy. The heartbreaker. She wondered how many hearts were stabbed and bled by him.

He himself was a heartless jerk.

Sakura wondered if the reason he slept around was because someone important to _him _had left him. She didn't know. But she felt a small area of pity for him, even though she still hated him deep inside for the things he had done to her.

He had no right to touch her.

She was now filthy and wanted to soak in warm, hot water just by that thought.

Thirty minutes later she was soaked in blood.

She thought she was going to die. The glass felt as if it had punctured something vital.

.

.

.

Sasuke wasn't making any progress. If he wanted her in his bed, he would have to do something about it, not just think about how good she would be.

Of course, he knew that Naruto was getting along quite well with her, obviously, since he was blindly in love with her. The month had passed by quickly ever since they first met, and now, in the hallways at school, he could literally see Naruto salivating after her while they talked.

She was insecure, as if not wanting to show herself to the world, which made her even more worth lusting after. Sasuke noted that she was actually very pretty, a natural beauty that he hadn't seen for a long, long time. She was gorgeous, but then again, he had a lot of other gorgeous women by him, natural or not.

But none as stunning as her, in the shy, "please-don't-notice-me" way. Not the GlamourGirl way.

It would be hard to step up to Sakura herself and try again. She still probably hadn't forgiven him for his quick moves, and would be afraid to approach him.

So the only way would be through Naruto.

But Naruto himself was drawing away from his best friend.

He had to try, anyway.

And he'd start with the girl.

.

.

.

Naruto opened his eyes. The sun shone through the windows and blinded him. He squinted, trying to cover his sight with his arm, and realized that his knees hurt. As he tried to get up, he fell over, his legs asleep from standing on them all night.

And then the bed.

It was made, cleanly, and his orange shirt was folded properly and put on top of the covers. Naruto opened his eyes and called out Sakura's name.

"She left?" he asked himself. "That can't be, I didn't hear or feel anything..."

He saw that her clothes were gone, and that she had the left the room the way it was before she slept there.

He missed her. The soft touch of her skin, the silky strands of her hair, the way her chest moved up and down as she breathed...

She was so beautiful. It was a sin to be that gorgeous, but she managed to make everyone forget about it anyway.

Who said short hair wasn't pretty?

Naruto took her pillow and pressed it against his chest, inhaling her sweet flowery aroma. A fresh blend of freshly cut roses and cherry blossoms blooming.

It drove him crazy.

He wanted her, so badly. Naruto knew that he shouldn't feel this way about a friend, especially a friend who valued their friendship and had no one else to go to, but he couldn't help it. It was like making him starve for a week and then dangling a bowl of ramen in his face. Just instinct.

Naruto felt the uncomfortable bulge in his pants and muttered to himself to make it go down. Instead, it just rose higher and higher until he couldn't take it anymore, and he went to go take a cold shower.

As he was pummeled by chilling droplets, he realized that this was the exact same bathroom that Sakura had showered in. Had used.

A lock of pink hair was clogging up the drain. He picked it up and held it in his hands, thinking of how her perfect body was now shattered and scarred from the hurt.

.

.

.

"Bitch, bitch, you little motherfucking whore!" Sakura's father had said as he slammed the bottle into her back repeatedly, while she moaned in pain. She didn't have enough energy to defend herself, but she managed to find the strength to roll on her back and use her arms to shield herself. She knew that this was coming and she deserved it, because she was a bad girl who hadn't obeyed her father's wishes and she was surely going to rot in hell for this...

"I'm sorry, tou-san, I'm sorry...Please stop, don't hurt me anymore, please don't hurt me..." Sakura said, feeling warm tears drip down her cheeks. She hadn't cried during a beating before, and she didn't know why she was starting to now. He stared at her, his eyes wide, but not with pity. Instead it was with anger.

"Don't do that!" he shouted, slapping her across the face. He straddled her, his knees on the sides of her waist, and her cheeks were used as a punching bag for him. He grabbed her by the throat and she tried to pry his hands away, choking on her sobs.

With a free hand, he reached for the buttons on her shirt, and began undoing them one by one. She screamed, knowing what was going to happen. If he was really mad, really angry, infuriated, and madder than the devil himself, he tried to rape her. And with no one around, she knew that he would probably succeed, and that her first would be horrible and she'd never ever want to have sex again.

Her blouse was torn open, and he smirked, his yellowed teeth under the cleanse of his tongue. He ripped her bra apart with a piece of broken glass he found next to her, and saw her breasts lie there, ready to be suckled. They didn't perk up with excitement, but instead, she tried to cover herself from his view.

"Stop it, you little slut," he muttered. "I thought you were doing this with your boyfriend last night. Who else would you stay with except a man? It's easier to whore around with a guy than with a girl. Why should I be any different?"

He managed to undo his pants and slide them down as she saw his obvious erection poke up from his boxers. He slid them off, too, and she saw his penis rise and throb, waiting to enter her cave.

This was hell. No child should suffer the way she had to.

Sakura screamed, and reached for the broken beer bottle. As he held onto her neck even harder, she took the bottle in her hands and smashed it against the side of his head. Enough to make him go out cold, but not quite enough to kill him.

She saw him twitch before going still, and she checked his pulse. Still there. He was just unconscious.

Sakura took what was left of her clothes and went upstairs to change, soaking in hot, warm water.

She was indeed, filthy now.

.

**the next day**

.

Sakura went to school, bruised and bloody beyond belief. She used layers of foundation to cover up the black, and wore extra clothing and bandages to make sure the wounds weren't visible.

She was literally shaking with terror. He hadn't gone that far, ever, and if she hadn't stopped him, she would've been…

Sakura didn't want to think about it. She wanted to cry just remembering it. Slowly, she tried to avoid the people passing by, talking about their weekends and how much fun they had on a date or at the mall. Sakura held herself together and slowly walked towards her homeroom.

Naruto was there, sitting down and trying to finish his homework, his hand scribbling furiously and making his chicken scratch even harder to read. She smiled at this, seeing how stressed out he was, but giggled at seeing how silly he was acting. She sat down next to him and touched his shoulder lightly.

"That answer is wrong," Sakura said shyly. He jumped, his pen flying out of his hand, and he turned towards her, a hand on his heart.

"Sakura-chan, you scared me!"

She laughed, and put her head on his shoulder, realizing that he smelled exactly like he did at his house.

Naruto suddenly became serious, and the whole world seemed to stop. No one paid attention to them, and Sakura diverted her attention down at her lap. She didn't feel like making eye contact.

However, Naruto put his fingers under her chin and put her face up so that she was forced to look at him. Even so, her eyes darted above his head.

"Sakura."

Naruto looked into her eyes, deep green and shimmering, and he couldn't help but stop being serious and melt right there, in a large puddle.

She was so beautiful.

"Sakura, look at me, please."

Slowly, she turned her eyes towards him, and his face was solemn, his lips curling into a frown.

"Why did you leave?"

Sakura began to blush, and she felt her makeup coming off from sweating. She wrenched her chin away from Naruto and looked out the window, muttering, "I had to go do something."

Naruto already knew the answer. He felt the powdery makeup on his fingers and rubbed them away. And the extra clothes, and the wrappings underneath her shirt…he knew that it was her dad. An abusive, good-for-nothing dad who can't even appreciate someone as amazing as Sakura.

"Sakura, I have to ask you something important."

She looked up at him, and nearly cried at how serious his face was. This was nothing like the Naruto she knew, all happy and cheery…

He opened his mouth to speak, but someone else interrupted them.

"Sakura, would you like to go out sometime?"

_Sasuke_.

* * *

**yeah, ik what ur thinking.**

**"if sakura's dad abuses her why doesnt she just leave"**

**1. he'd call the policeon her to find her  
2. he'd hit her even more if he found her  
3. he'd find her. LOL**

**and yeah, tension's building up. rawrrrr. LOL.**

**so yeah.**

**...yeah. x3**

**review, please! can we make it to 130?**


	8. eighth, you seem fine

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sasuke mentally cursed, seeing her shocked expression, along with Naruto's. He wasn't supposed to attack her first. The plan was to ask Naruto and lure him in, but his hormones got the best of him. Now she'd never agree, and he wouldn't get to bed her.

Naruto frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you want, Sasuke?"

He rolled his eyes, and stared at Naruto. "Nothing, dobe. Don't get in the way."

Now, the two boys were looking at each other, face to face, their eyes boring into each others'. Sakura clutched her clothes tighter to her body, as if Sasuke's eyes could rape her, like he tried to the day she met him. She was scared.

"Naruto, please stop," she muttered. "Please, let's just go," Sakura begged. Go where? She didn't even know. Away from him.

Sasuke broke his gaze off from Naruto's to look at Sakura, so beautiful and innocent and fragile...it was as if she was scared of him, holding herself together tightly, which made her seem even more breakable.

"Sakura, answer my question," he said, looming over her. She whimpered even more, refusing to look into his eyes. To solve this problem, he took her chin forcefully and made her look into his own pair.

Then, he repeated it.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he said, clenching his teeth. Damn, he could feel his arousal against his pants. However, he smirked, held her tighter to him, and she flushed bright red at the feel of his erection against her stomach.

"No, no, I don't want to," Sakura said, shaking her head and trying to push him away. "I don't want to!" she said again, more forcefully.

Naruto pushed Sasuke away, and held Sakura in his arms while Sasuke growled. All eyes were on the three, now.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked at Naruto, pushing his own arms away from her. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes and ran away, just by herself, from the both of them. Naruto frowned at Sasuke, while the Uchiha got up, smirking while rubbing his head.

"She's a little spitfire, she is," he muttered to Naruto. "How do you think she'd behave in bed?"

That comment was enough for Naruto to hit Sasuke so hard his face was bruised and bloody.

.

.

.

"I don't want this, this can't be happening," Sakura said, whispering to herself as she shook her head repeatedly, sitting on the toilet in the girls' room. "Why me? Why does it have to be me?"

The tears fell freely down her cheeks, and she wiped them away with toilet paper, throwing it in the disposal made for tampons and pads. She laid her elbows on her knees and held her face in her hands, just crying softly as she wondered what was going on with the world now.

She honestly didn't know. Everything was so wrong, and so weird, it was like she wasn't even living anymore. She was only living in a nightmare.

Sakura remembered Sasuke's handsome face smirking as he used his eyes to rape her body, and the feel of his...his arousal against her stomach, the heat radiating off...

And when he touched her, prying her clothes away from her to fuck her body hard...she was lucky he didn't get to see the scars that marred her skin, which probably would've turned him off, but he'd fuck her anyway. And what the other people would say about her...a cutter? She wished that people could put two and two together to save her. But they couldn't.

They were all so stupid.

.

.

.

Naruto was suspended for a week for fighting. Sasuke, too, was suspended, but only for three days. It was so unfair, but he wanted to teach Sasuke a lesson. Honestly, Naruto thought, he didn't know how he once was friends with someone so revolting. It disgusted him, and he wanted to wash the memories away.

But it was too painful. Sasuke was his brother, and was everything he had. And now he didn't know what they were anymore. Friends? Rivals? Enemies? Naruto buried his face in his arms.

He didn't even know what happened to Sakura. He saw her running away, and she was crying, but otherwise he didn't know what happened after that. How dare he go after Sakura like that, so straightforward and blunt and everything! He had no morals, and no sense, and didn't even care for anybody but himself. He was an arrogant bastard, and egotistical jerk, and...

And his best friend.

Underneath the monster was a gentle heart that could care for people when it wanted to. But it was hidden by thorns and thimbles. To get through, you had to climb and scratch and bleed through the maze just to find it.

Naruto was the only person who had.

Minato and Kushina were upset, yes, but even more at Sasuke, who they never actually approved of. They were glad, however, that their son stood up for someone who couldn't, and that itself was a great feat, they said.

He didn't mind being suspended, Naruto thought as he ate his ramen happily. It wasn't bad at all.

.

.

.

Sasuke's face hurt like hell. He forgot that Naruto could pack a punch, and it hurt to eat, drink, or even breathe.

He had girls come in to take care of him, whine at his flaws, and then he'd get on top of them and play with their breasts while they rode him.

And then he made them go.

But Sasuke had something to think about while he was like this, in a state of...well, un-Sasukeness. He saw how Naruto stood up for Sakura the same way he stood up for him, a long time ago. The way Naruto protected Sakura and cared for her, and even looked at her with those eyes...he even went up against his best friend to protect her.

Sasuke realized something.

Naruto was in love with Sakura. Truly and deeply in love with her.

His mind wandered off to Sakura, then. He saw how her face was twisted into horror at the very look at him, and how she scrunched up, as if to hide herself from his view. He didn't like it. She shouldn't have to cover her beauty from him. He wondered what was under those clothes of hers.

Was she so self-conscious about her body? Her face was pretty, so she most likely would have a nice figure, too. Did she just not want him to see her naked? Maybe her breasts weren't that great? Sasuke frowned. Sure, that would be a disappointment, but he could work without it.

Ever since he had met Sakura, his mind was full of her, 24/7, even while he was fucking other girls. He probably just thought of her because she was a challenge. No other girl had resisted him before, so she was different.

But damn, he wanted her. He wanted her badly, and the want was so powerful it seemed like he _needed_ her.

Everytime he saw her with Naruto, he felt a twinge in his chest, like it burned.

He'd never felt this way about a girl before, but he bet it was only the adventure.

.

**one week later.**

.

Both Sasuke and Naruto were back in school, and everything, including Sasuke's face, was back to normal.

Well, almost everything.

Sakura was nowhere to be seen, Naruto thought as he searched the whole school for a glimpse of pink. It was like she wasn't just avoiding Sasuke. She was avoiding him, too!

Naruto knew that he should give her at least another week's worth of time to let everything settle down. After all, it probably was a big change for her.

But he wanted to be there for her and to protect her, even when she didn't need protecting. He wanted to be by her all the time, with him at her side. He loved her, he realized, and wanted her so much he couldn't even stand it. He felt so strongly for her that he would give up everything, just for her. Only for her.

The only other time he felt this way about someone was with Sasuke. But he loved him in a sibling-like way, not the way he felt for Sakura.

He loved seeing her smile with him, the smell of a faint cherry blossom and sweet fruits surrounding him, the soft touch of her hand on his.

And the scars...

Naruto froze, every time he thought about them. He couldn't hide this forever. He needed to help her. Who knows what she was going through? Hell? He had to rescue her from it, because he knew that he was her Prince Charming, like in the fairytales.

The only thing that stopped him was the break of friendship lingering in the air.

.

.

.

Sakura was still shaken up, and tried to avoid Sasuke and Naruto as much as she could. She didn't want to be associated with either of them, anymore. It was just too painful and too scary and too dramatic. She already had enough drama in her life.

She knew that she couldn't hide from them forever. Someone's always going to find you, wherever you are. Like in Hide 'n' Seek. But she could hide, just for a little bit, until it was time to come out.

It hurt her to hurt Naruto. She knew that he liked her very much, and she cared for him too, but not in the same way that he would want it to be. And then, for some reason, whenever she thought about Naruto her mind drifted off to Sasuke. His beautiful face, his chiseled features, his masculinity...

He was so beautiful, yet so evil. Like a demon in disguise. She knew everything was a fake about him, and that she couldn't ever associate herself with him because of who he was, but she just couldn't help herself.

In all honesty, she hated him. She wanted him to die, to burn in flames and go back to hell where he came from. He wasn't even human by the way he acted. She didn't know how Naruto was friends with him a while ago, but she knew the influence he had on Sasuke.

Naruto influenced her, too.

There had to be something about Sasuke that made Naruto want to keep working hard at to find. Sakura didn't want to find it.

.

.

.

The three of them were in a "health" class, talking about controversial topics that were on everyone's minds. It was like a philosophy group, where everyone had a say and every opinion was heard and argued with. The first class was abortion, brought up by Hinata. Sasuke listened intently, knowing that in the past he hadn't used condoms because the girls were on "the pill." They had lied, and soon they were pregnant, so he had paid them off to leave and never come back.

He hadn't heard from them since, and always used a condom in case one of those sluts lied.

The second topic was suicide, which had come from Lee, a normally happy person who was best friends with the Gym teacher, Gai. The two were like father and son. Then, Sasuke found out that most of the time the happiest people are usually the saddest.

He wondered if Lee was going to commit suicide.

And then he shook the idea off.

This class, there was nothing for discussion. Everyone had no topics to share, and was bored out of their minds. Most people took the class just for an easy A to talk, and very few were actually interested in what the class was about.

Naruto raised his hand.

Iruka called on him.

"Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto gulped silently to himself, and closed his eyes before saying softly, "I want to talk about child abuse."

Sasuke saw Naruto slump, and Sakura jerk up, as if she was scared or shocked. He thought nothing more of it other than an interesting topic.

"Child abuse..." Iruka began. "It's a very serious topic, and I"m glad you brought it up, Naruto." He reached into his desk for flyers and pamphlets and handed them around to everyone. Sakura took hers slowly, and began shaking. She couldn't even open the pamphlet up.

Naruto took his and slowly opened it, not taking his eyes off Sakura's back. She was trying to control herself, but for some reason, it was as if she was scared. Or was panicky. Maybe both. But why?

Sasuke's own flyer and pamphlet went onto his desk, and he viewed the flyer first before opening the pamphlet.

_If you know someone who has child abuse, don't hesitate to call 1-800-555-0328..._

He threw it aside and opened the pamphlet, explaining what child abuse was and how to get help, quick. Under the side flap, which he then uncovered, he saw the symptoms of child abuse.

**Physical Signs of Child Abuse**

_Frequent injuries or unexplained bruises, welts, or cuts._

_Injuries appear to have a pattern such as marks from a hand or belt._

_Untreated illnesses and physical injuries._

Sasuke looked around. No one seemed to have those kinds of symptoms.

_Excessively withdrawn, fearful, or anxious about doing something wrong._

He looked around the room, and saw people reading. Then, his eyes locked on Sakura's back.

She was always scared around people, especially him, but he thought nothing more of it. But she was so quiet, so secluded, so isolated...she wasn't shy like Hinata, but scared, somehow, as if someone would find her and hurt her...

_Is always watchful and "on alert," as if waiting for something bad to happen._

Sakura always was careful of her surroundings. Maybe too careful...

_Shies away from touch, flinches at sudden movements, or seems afraid to go home._

He understood that she didn't like when he touched her, but even when Naruto hugged her, she pulled away...

_Wears inappropriate clothing to cover up injuries, such as long-sleeved shirts on hot days._

She wore baggy layers of clothes to school all the time, even when it was 70 degrees out.

_Is frequently late or missing from school._

Then again, Sakura's always late to homeroom...even later than Kakashi.

Sasuke took a look at Sakura thoroughly and nearly dropped the pamphlet.

She matched all those descriptions.

* * *

**clfify? sort of? LOL**

**well now both of them know...gasp. jkjk haha.**

**thanks for al lthe reivews, everybody! can we get up to 145?**

**btw, i got the symptoms from: helpguide (dot) org, so credits to them!**


	9. ninth, you check on it a few days after

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sasuke was panicking. He never did, except when he found out that he had a child from a one-night stand. But this, in his opinion, was far more serious.

"No way, no way, no way," he muttered to himself. "This isn't true. It's probably just a coincidence."

He realized that he was…feeling _worried _about her? His cold side immediately won over, so he shook his head, slapped his cheeks a couple of times, and took his eyes off her.

"I don't care," he told himself. "I know other girls who were raped and beaten by their parents, but it never affected their performance in bed."

Then, he looked at Naruto, who was still slumped in his seat, as if he was embarrassed or fearful. Though he could not see his expression, Sasuke thought that Naruto knew about her issue.

Then again, Naruto wasn't the brightest star in the sky. he was sometimes slow, dim-witted, and mentally challenged, but Naruto could figure out a person even better than some shrinks he knew. Sasuke figured it was because he was a people person, and that he could see through their feelings and into their hearts.

Like he had done with Sasuke.

Naruto never missed these sorts of things. And Sasuke knew that he really did love her, which meant that he _had _to know about her abuse.

The problem was…why wasn't it stopped yet?

Sasuke stared at Naruto's slouched figure, which kept on sliding further and further under the table. He held himself close, in a small ball, like he didn't want to be noticed. No one else paid attention to the class, and began chewing gum, gossiping, and listening to their iPods.

Sasuke's eyes strayed over to Sakura's back. She was even worse than Naruto, almost, with her back hunched over and her head in her hands. Her baggy clothes wrinkled as she bent her back and he wanted to see under her shirt, not in a perverted way this time, if she was covered in black and blue.

"So," Iruka began as he put down his own brochure after reading it. "Let's talk about this."

.

.

.

Everyone was now at full attention, in fear of Iruka giving them detentions for not paying attention in class.

Naruto was now sitting up, as if he wanted to absorb as much attention as he could, if it could help him in any way possible.

"Does anyone have any questions or anything to say?" Iruka began. Naruto slowly began to raise his hand, and everyone looked at him, including Sakura. He had never voluntarily raised his hand unless it was to go to the bathroom.

"Yes, Naruto?" Iruka began.

Naruto refused to meet Iruka's eyes, and fiddled with his hands like Hinata did, except in his lap.

"I'm wondering…if someone you know is abused, but other people don't know it, except you, how do you help them? Because if you're a really good friend of theirs and don't want them to be hurt anymore, what should you do? They might not want to be your friend anymore if you tell," Naruto said hurriedly, rushing his words together.

Iruka held his hands in front of him. "Whoa, Naruto, slow down."

He repeated his question, slower this time. Sakura was shaking, as if she had a seizure, and held her hand to her mouth. She raised her hand, her face pale and sickly, and asked, quietly, "May I please go to the bathroom?"

Without waiting for a response, she ran out of the room, shutting the door quickly behind her.

By that action alone, Sasuke knew that Naruto was right on the spot.

.

.

.

Iruka continued answering Naruto's question.

"Good question, Naruto. If you really are a good friend with that person, you should tell the police anyway. Chances are they may be angry at you at first, but later on in life they'll be glad you saved their life. If they really are your friend they'll appreciate what you've done for them."

Naruto nodded, his face staring off in the distance. Iruka looked around and said, "Anymore questions or stories anyone would like to share?"

Sasuke raised his hand, and everyone looked to see what he had to say. Everyone knew he didn't care about other people besides himself, but it was still interesting to hear what the Playboy had to say.

"Do you think there's an abused child here, in this school?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's fists were clenched, he saw, and he suddenly got up, running out of the room the same way Sakura had done, except more forcefully.

Everyone stared at the two who had just ran out of the room, but Iruka sighed and collected all the pamphlets and fliers, knowing that teaching this class had no use. They began to talk and listen to music again.

Sasuke stared at the empty desk in front of him.

.

.

.

Naruto didn't know where Sakura was. Perhaps she was in the girls' bathroom, but he couldn't go in there. Not if he wanted to save his ass.

That didn't matter at the moment. Any consequence wasn't as bad as the sight of her crying, and being in pain. He knew that he had hit a vein, indirectly, and he clenched his teeth. He had caused her this pain.

While he ran across the hall corner, he heard the small sniffles and cries coming from inside something. He paused, trying to listen for the sounds, and looked at the lockers, the fat, short ones that are stacked on top of each other.

He ran his fingers over the cool metal and hooked his hand under the opening. It was lockless, and he opened it, nearly screaming at Sakura's small figure crouched inside the small locker, her knees against her chest, tears streaming down her face.

"Sakura…" he said. He attempted to touch her arms, gently, but she held herself closer and begged, "Don't touch me, please…please don't touch me, Naruto."

He put his hands back at his sides, but he realized that he couldn't leave her like that. He took her out gently and held her small figure against his own. His arms were on her back, holding her close, and she began to sob loudly in his shirt, grabbing onto his sleeves.

"Naruto, Naruto…I…I don't know what came over me," Sakura said as she tried to hold back her tears. "It just…it just struck a nerve, and…"

He stroked her hair and whispered in her ear. "Shh, Sakura-chan, it's okay. I know it hurt. I'm here, you know that I'm always going to be here for you, sweetheart."

She didn't' mind the affectionate term at that moment, and slowly, she hugged him back. He held her away at arm's length and stared into her eyes.

"We'll skip the day, Sakura. How's that? We'll go to the mall and have fun together. Just us two, hanging out. Playing hooky."

Sakura looked up at his sincere blue eyes, and she smiled a half-smile. She put her hand in his outstretched one, and he squeezed it gently.

"Let's go. Let me go get my stuff and we can leave."

.

.

.

Sakura had been to a mall before, but she had never actually gotten to do anything more than browse and the stuff that she wanted to buy wasn't available for her. The only money she stole from her dad (his "beer" money) was used for essential needs like food and thrift-store clothes. So she felt very wanting to just take some clothes that actually looked pretty.

Naruto was fingering his froggy wallet in his pocket, and Sakura walked next to him, slowly, her face wiped clean with a fresh towel after her tears.

"Naruto, are you sure we can..." she began. He shushed her with a finger on her lips, and smiled.

"Sure, Sakura-chan. And if someone finds out, I'll take the blame. We're just here to have fun! Dattebayo!"

She smiled, and looked at a store next to her that had a woman's mannequin on display with a beautiful scarlet dress that fit the woman's curves.

Sakura realized she had been staring at it too long, and Naruto had to shake her back to reality.

"Sakura-chan? Are you okay?"

He then followed her gaze and nearly gulped. The outfit was so expensive, but it was so pretty and Sakura wanted it...but he wanted to buy a video game at the store...

It didn't matter. He took her hand in his and went inside, not caring abut the money he would have to save up again. Her happiness mattered more.

.

.

.

Sasuke called Naruto at least five times, leaving brief voicemails after each one.

"Naruto, it's Sasuke. Call me. I need to talk to you."

He knew that he shouldn't be feeling strange about Sakura, because she was nothing more than a toy for him, but he felt that since Naruto loved her, he had a duty to protect his friend.

And seeing her so fragile, and so breakable…it almost pained him. He felt a burning sensation in his heart and groaned softly in pain, his hand on his chest.

"What's happening to me?" he muttered as he hunched over in pain. Then, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and hurriedly took it out to see who it was.

The Caller ID read _Karin_.

.

.

.

"Sakura-chan, try this on," Naruto said as he chose everything in sight. She squeaked at the mountain of clothes being put into her hands and nearly fell over in weight.

"Naruto, we don't have to—"

"Go, go," he said as he pushed her into the dressing room. "Come out when you're done. I want to see it."

She heard the door close behind her and she stared at the clothes that she had in her hand. Hanging them up, she tried the first outfit, a long sleeved shirt and pants, and observed herself in the mirror.

Sakura turned to the side and ran her hands slowly over her body. She nearly gasped in shock, and felt surprise. She smiled.

_I feel…I feel beautiful, for once, _she thought as she sniffed. _Naruto has never made me feel more beautiful than I have ever been_.

She tried them all out, and opened the door out of the dressing room.

.

.

.

"What do you want?" he answered, annoyed. "Karin, I'm sick of you calling me over and over."

He heard her squealing at the other end.

"Oh, but Sasuke-kun! Don't you love hearing my voice? And, sweetie, we can do some naughty things right now…" she purred. For some reason, he felt no erection, and that surprised him. Lately, he hadn't gotten turned on by anybody except a girl with pink hair.

He heard her start taking off her clothes and knew that she was sliding down her panties. She put her finger against her womanhood and started rubbing.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm touching myself…" she moaned. "I think…I think I'm going to…"

She screamed in ectasy, and Sasuke winced at the sound of her nasally voice. Lord knows how he dealt with that in bed. But then, his hormones took over. He never paid attention then. But he did now.

He hung up.

.

.

.

"Sakura, you look amazing," Naruto said, nearly drooling. He blushed heavily, and tried to turn away, but her beauty was like a magnet, and he couldn't stop staring.

She was embarrassed, never having received comments like that before. She covered her chest by foldin her arms and smiled shyly. "Thank you."

"Did you like anything? Want to buy something?"

Sakura's eyes immediately went to the scarlet dress on display, and she tried to avert her gaze before Naruto could follow it.

"Do you like it?"

She didn't respond. He smiled, and called over a saleswoman.

"Miss? Could you please bring me one of those red dresses, in a petite small?"

.

.

.

She wore it and loved herself more than she ever had before. Not only did she love herself, she loved Naruto, for the kindness and everything he showed her. Sakura felt bad that she couldn't return his feelings of love the way he had wanted her to, but perhaps he could learn that she loved him in a different way.

The dress fit her better than the mannequin. The only issue was that it was strapless, and that her arms stood out against the red. Blue and black on peaches 'n' cream skin. Luckily, her legs were covered by the dress, except for an icicle-like slit on the sides.

"Sakura? Are you okay in there?" she heard Naruto say while knocking.

"Yeah," she said back. "I'm okay."

She changed back into her clothes and stared at the pretty red dress that she knew she could never have.

She took everything and left the room.

.

.

.

Sasuke sat down at his computer, reading articles about child abuse and the symptoms. The flyer and pamphlet weren't enough, so he decided to do some more research.

They all said the same thing. Some stories were bad, but others were just simply disgusting.

It was horrible what the people had done.

Then, he felt that he was a hypocrite. He knew that he had done wrong things in his life, especially with women, even though he never cared about any of them more than an easy bed. Naruto viewed him as a monster.

He was starting to think that, himself.

How could these past few months change him so much?

.

.

.

"Was the dress nice?" Naruto asked as Sakura took her things and put them back where they were. The red dress was the last one she put back. Staring at it longingly, she sighed before hanging it on the rack.

"You like it."

She didn't look at him, but put it back on the rack. He took it from her hands and raced to the cashier.

"I want to buy this," he said immediately, as if he was in a rush. "Here."

He took out his wallet, knowing that the red dress was going to eat up all the money he had saved, but he wanted Sakura to be happy, He wanted to change her life.

"31,000 yen."

Naruto gulped. That was really expensive, and he was rethinking his decision, but he made up his mind and put all 371 US dollars in her hand. Sakura was standing in the background, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes.

He shouldn't do this for her.

But he did, anyway.

He handed her the bag, grinning his big grin, and rubbed her head.

"Thank you," she whispered before she wrapped her arms around his waist.

.

.

.

They were at dinner, sitting on the stools at Icharaku, both of them on "Naruto's free ramen night." She held the bag in her hands and was shaking with nervousness.

"This is kind of like a date," Naruto said quietly. "You know, just the two of us."

"Yeah."

She refused to look at him because of embarrassment, and he turned back to watch the cooks make their ramen.

"Tell me something about yourself," he said. "I'd like to know more about you."

"I…I don't know."

"Then you ask me something."

Sakura thought for a moment, before she decided to face Naruto and his cerulean eyes.

"Why did you become friends with Sasuke?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He obviously wasn't expecting that question, but he answered it anyway.

"Because he looked like he needed one."

* * *

**so yeah, im hopignthat i making baby steps for sasuke to start liking sakura. he doesnt know it though, hahah. xD so yeah **

**thanks soooo much for the reviews! can we make it to 170 this time?**

**i love u guys sooooo much.**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	10. tenth, a scab has formed

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sakura was confused by this answer.

"What do you mean? I thought he could have all the friends in the world."

Naruto shook his head, sadly, and looked at her with morose eyes. "He's one of the loneliest people I know, Sakura. I think he just uses girls because he wants to feel loved. He is loved, I guess, but he wants to love somebody back. I guess he's still waiting for that one special girl to come in and fill the hole in his heart."

Sakura was nearly tearing when he finished, because he could make a monster sound so innocent and fragile. Naruto was amazing with words, and she had to congratulate him on that, something that people didn't notice.

"Sakura-chan?"

She shook her head to wake herself up, and smiled at him sadly. "You speak beautifully," she whispered while she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Naruto, you have such a way with words that it…I don't…"

The ramen came, and both of them thanked in their traditional style before eating. Naruto was eating slowly this time, as if he was going to miss something if he slurped it up all at once.

"Are you still friends with him?" she asked again, putting her chopsticks down and using her soup spoon to drink.

Naruto thought for a moment, freezing. "I…well, I don't know. I mean, he's still a brother to me, but the way he's been acting lately is…" he didn't finish, and instead looked down at his bowl, picking up the chopsticks with hesitation.

Sakura could see that he was in pain telling the story, so she changed the topic.

"How long have you lived in Konoha?"

He answered back, and soon they began a rally of 20 Questions, expanded four times. Soon they forgot all about Sasuke, and Naruto was back to his cheery self, ramen bowls piled high while they shared laughs all through the evening.

They didn't even notice it was nearly night.

.

.

.

The two walked to the park together, the sky illuminated by fireflies and streetlamps. They sat on a bench, Sakura on the far end of one side and Naruto on the other.

Then, he began to scoot closer, without seeming suspicious, and glanced over to see what she was doing.

Her hands were in her lap, and she looked down, biting her lip nervously. He scooted even closer, halfway on the bench, when she looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, touching her shoulder gently. She flinched at the touch, and shrugged.

"Nothing…why?" she replied back, her eyes darting from side to side.

"You seem jumpy…" he muttered, before he was next to her, thigh to thigh. She was blushing heavily, and so was he. He found his hand on top of hers.

Sakura's eyes darted from their hands to his face, and she could feel her skin burning up. Naruto's normally tanned complexion was turning a nice pink, and before she knew it, he had tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

He clutched her hand tighter and put the other behind her neck, slowly drawing her closer to him.

Before she could think, his lips were on hers, moving slowly, and she could tell that he was new to this, as was she. So she just sat there, holding his hand while her other was on his shoulder gently, and he did the work as his lips were slowly sucking hers. She closed her eyes and just let him do what he wanted.

They had both just gotten their first kiss.

It was beyond amazing.

.

.

.

Naruto slowly pulled back. Sakura hadn't forced him off, which meant that she didn't hate it…but the way she didn't kiss him back didn't mean that she liked him…

He stared at her red face, the eyes refusing to meet his, and cupped her cheek.

"Sakura-chan?" he murmured. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him, finally, and said, "Yes, I'm okay."

Sakura saw him lick his lips shyly again, so she allowed him to kiss her once more, her mouth moving against his in the dance.

It didn't mean that she was in love with him romantically. But she wanted to make him happy, the way that he had made _her _happy.

She knew that she meant the world to him.

.

.

.

He offered to drop her off at her house, but she refused.

"I'm okay. I'm getting a ride home, anyway," she lied smoothly. Naruto frowned, seeing through the faux words. He held her wrist in his hand, felt her pulse beat wildly against his fingers, and squatted in front of her.

"Get on," he said, waiting to hook his arms through the crook of her leg.

Nervously, she climbed on her back while he bounced her up for more support, and she held onto his neck with both arms, clinging tight.

"Can you hold on?"

"Yes," she murmured in the nape of his neck, burying her head there and smelling his faint scent of ramen.

He walked with her on his back slowly, back to his house.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her voice edged with panic. "I…I have to go home."

"Just spend the night with me," he murmured. "I'll tell your parents that you're okay."

"No!" she shrieked, and he nearly dropped her from the shock. "I…I mean, no, it's okay. I'll just go home."

Instead, he held on tighter to her legs and looked over his shoulder at her face. "I'm not letting you go back to that hellhole, ever again. And if he wants to call the police, let him. He'll have to go through me first."

He knew that he had said too much, and he felt his heart sinking as she stopped breathing, her arms no longer around him.

"W-What?" she whispered, as if she hadn't heard what he was saying. "H-How did you…why…"

Suddenly, she began to cry, and he felt the wave of tears on his neck. She demanded to be put down on her feet, but he wouldn't let her, until she started trying by herself to get off. Finally, he decided to let her down, and grabbed her wrist so she wouldn't escape. She tried to run, but knew she was helpless, and wiped the tears with the back of her hand.

"Stop it, stop it…I hate you, Naruto, I thought…" she began in choked sobs. The words hurt him, but he knew that he had to do what he needed to do.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," he whispered. Then, knowing that she didn't hear through her sobs, he shouted out, "I love you, damnit!"

She looked up at him, knowing that the answer was different when he said the words rather than when he thought about it. Her eyes were filled with sadness and disappointment and betrayal, but he wanted to let it all out. Everything had been perfect, up until now…

"I love you so much, Sakura-chan," Naruto began, his voice shaking as his grip loosened. She felt that she could run away, but she would be hurting both of them even more. "I've always loved you ever since Sasuke tried to…tried to…" he couldn't finish his sentence, but wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "When you laugh, I laugh, and when you cry, I cry, and when you're hurt…I'm hurt, Sakura-chan," his tears were flowing down his cheeks freely then. "I love you to death!" he shouted.

She didn't know what was going on but began to cry with him. He held her tight in his arms and kissed her head repeatedly.

"I know that you don't love me, but you can always learn, Sakura-chan. If I could just teach you, then we'd never have any problems and I could make you the happiest person you could be.

"I know," she whispered in his chest. "But I'm not supposed to be the girl that deserves you."

"Sakura…"

He kissed her again, roughly this time, and held onto her as if she would drop through his fingers like sand.

Behind the dimmed streetlamps, their glows decreasing, Sasuke had taken out his earphones, standing there in his athletic shirt and sweatpants.

.

.

.

She fell asleep on the way, and Naruto felt the itch of dried tears on skin. He was carrying her bridal style, home, because he didn't want to wake her.

Taking the key on his necklace and putting it through the knob, he was surprised to find an angry Kushina, with her red hair burning bright as if they were flame,s and Minato, who just stood on the side with his arms folded.

Then, their eyes drifted off to Sakura, and their expressions immediately softened before they turned stern again.

"I'm putting her upstairs," Naruto said quickly as he carried her up and laid her on the bed. "I'll be down soon and you can yell at me all you want, but for now, I need to tuck her in."

They watched as he raced up the staircase with his love in his arms, and Kushina put her head on Minato's chest, remembering how he used to do that to her.

"Minato-kun…they're so cute together."

"Yeah…they are."

He turned her head and gently leaned in for a kiss.

.

.

.

Naruto slumped back downstairs, feeling empty without Sakura with him. His parents stood over him, looming ominously, and they growled.

"Where were you? Did you have any idea how worried we were?" Kushina began raging. "I got a call from the school saying that you ditched class with Sakura-chan. You know better than that! And what about the dress she was wearing? That sure as hell isn't mine, and I know that you could not afford that, anyway! Besides, you were saving up for…whatever it is. Anyway, Naruto, you are in serious trouble and you better explain yourself right now!"

Minato interrupted her, tipping up Naruto's chin.

"Naruto…have you been crying?"

Naruto turned away from his parents while his mother leaned in closer to see. Naruto murmured, "I can explain."

"Then start."

He didn't want to tell them the whole story, knowing that it was only a secret between him and Sakura. So he only told parts of it.

"Sakura was having a bad day, and so was I. We didn't have any other important classes afterwards, so we decided to go to the mall, because…well, you know the clothes she wears are pretty bad…" he said. "She was looking at this dress, and it was really pretty, but it was all the money I had. I knew that she wanted it though, and I wanted to see her happy, so I bought it for her. I'm out of money now, but that doesn't matter because I saw her smile today, and I know what it's like to be in love, kaa-san. Like you and tou-san say, it's one of the best things in the world."

Naruto's voice was cracking again, and he put his head in his arms. Kushina looked at him with sad eyes and rubbed his back, kissing his forehead.

"Naruto-chan…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you," she apologized. "I just didn't know."

Minato didn't care about that.

"So you're broke?"

Kushina gave him the eye, but Naruto looked up and nodded solemnly. Then, Minato smiled, and he took his wallet out of his pocket and gave all the bills that were in there.

"When you learn to love someone, you'll give up anything for them. For you, it was your ramen money, which is very hard for you to save. Just seeing her smile in a red dress was enough. I know that you are my son."

He gave Naruto a bear hug, and rubbed his back. "I'm so proud of you."

He stared at the new bills in his hand, and put them in his froggy wallet.

"Thanks, tou-san."

* * *

**DOEN. ive been on hiatus for forever, and wont update FLM asap bc i dont have any inspiration...and when i do they're all cliches or ive done them before so it's stupid**

**im starting on a couple new stories and i hope u guys will read them! ill put the summaries later on the bottom of FML when i finish haha. so yeah, thanks everyon for 173 reviews! how a bout 195 pls? x3 i'd love it!**

**thanks so much 4 reaidng everyone! ilysfm!**

**hope u had a great thxgiving!**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	11. eleventh, you pick the scab

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sasuke felt his heart beat rapidly in his chest. Seeing her and Naruto like that, cuddled up on the bench…he felt like he wanted to puke.

But underneath all that vomit, he was burning up. Anger surged inside of him, and he didn't know how or why it got there. It just boiled up, like a dormant volcano, and exploded everything around him.

He threw his iPod down on his dresser, so hard that the glass casing broke, and took off his clothes, sweating in only boxer shorts on his bed. He thought back to the time Naruto had gently put a hand on her and kissed her slowly, and how she later responded back…

No. He shouldn't be thinking about that. He didn't want to be kissed. He never _had _been kissed. But It still made him angry that Naruto had gotten his first kiss before him. He always wanted to be number one. He _needed _to be number one. It was a sick obsession for him, but he had to be the best and wouldn't let anyone else obtain that title.

Even if it meant kissing someone he didn't love.

People say that when you kiss someone, you love them, but that was a lie. He didn't love any of his women. They were all his possessions. They also said that when you love someone, you decide to have sex with them, but that too was a lie. He never had sex for love. He had it for the fun, for the feeling, for the emotions that he could make and break.

His hand was on his heart, and he winced at the sharp jolts of pain he felt through his chest. His face was burning up, cheeks red, and he felt his manhood rising slowly, even though he was begging himself not to. It ached, the way it stood up at the thoughts of Sakura clouding his mind…Sakura at the first day of school, Sakura with Naruto, Sakura kissing Naruto, Sakura's naked body, the scars covering her body…which he didn't even know what looked like.

Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring, and groaned, making his way downstairs in boxers with an erection and no shirt. He saw Karin on the doorstep, her face covered in makeup, like a clown's, and what was supposed to be a sexy outfit. Before, he would've gladly invited her in and ripped it off. Now he just stared, but his eyes weren't filled with lust. They were just empty, thinking about the girl in pink hair in that costume, just for him.

"Sasuke-kun, you didn't answer my calls," she murmured, trying to get closer to him, hugging him and feeling his sweaty chest on her cheek. She invited herself in. It was dark, and Sasuke wanted to kick her back on the streets where she belonged, but right now, he wouldn't—_couldn't_—bring the energy to do it. All of it was focused on pink.

"Hn."

She looked up at him, and he could see all of her imperfections, even with makeup on. He didn't know why, but for some reason his body had ignored it while he fucked her, probably because he was caught up in his hormones and sudden lust.

"So let's go upstairs."

He pushed her off him, and opened the door again while he held her wrist and tried to push her out. She didn't budge.

"Sasuke-kun," she said, pointing to his boner. "I know that you're excited, and I know that you want me, so just stop denying it and carry me up."

He thought for a moment, and slowly closed the door, he hated himself for doing this, and knew that he couldn't ever do it again, but one time was all he needed and he would be happy.

Just for a short time.

"Fine."

He stomped upstairs, not even bothering to wait for Karin, who climbed up in her high heels, her dress flying up with every step, though she had nothing to hide from the world. She flaunted it out everywhere.

And now they were on his bed, him on top of her. Before she could take off the last piece of clothing he had on, he took her glasses in his large hand and smashed them into pieces, The two parts broke and he threw them to the ground.

"What the _hell _is the matter with you?" she shrieked. "Are you crazy?"

He shut her mouth and stared into her blood-red eyes, before snarling, "Don't say anything. If you do, I swear, I will kill you."

She looked at him with frightened eyes and nodded, before he slowly closed his own eyes and took her off her outfit slowly and gently, not ripping as he usually would.

He touched her tenderly, as if he loved her and she would break into pieces, but his eyes remained shut thoroughly, Sasuke unable to see past his eyelids.

"What—"

He covered her mouth and moved down to her neck, giving a small squeeze. "Shut up," he murmured, not even opening them once.

She was now fully naked, and, although Sasuke knew most parts of her body, he thought of someone else's, marred with scars but beautiful nonetheless. He thought that her biggest scar would be on her stomach, just above the navel and below her perfect, soft breasts. He fingered the nonexistent scar and pressed his lips to it, gently, as soft as a child's touch.

Karin moaned, and he winced. Her sound broke the illusion, and he told her, "Shut up!"

She whimpered before slowly sinking back into quietness, and he removed his shorts before gently entering her, as if she were a virgin, innocent and pure as a girl with pink hair.

.

.

.

Sakura wasn't supposed to be here. In fact, she wasn't even supposed to fall asleep. She thought back to their kiss underneath the streetlight lamp, and how he accidentally confessed that he knew about her secret. The biggest one of all, and it was now out in the air.

But how? How did he figure it out? She thought she was so good at covering it up, but in fact, even the dumbest of idiots could figure it out.

Which probably meant everyone else knew.

And he could've told somebody.

She knew that the world wasn't safe anymore, and that she needed to do something about it. She wouldn't let her secret escape beyond the confines of his mouth. She needed to escape. To run away from all of her problems

Like she always did.

Sakura knew that running away was never the best solution, but it was the quickest and easiest one. She only wished that she could run away from her life, to leave everything behind and start a new life. But she couldn't. She knew that even though her father would kill her, depending on his alcohol level, she had to take care of him. She promised her mother, and would not back down on that promise until he was dead!

But, by God, she didn't understand how her mother was still in love with him even after all the horrible things he had done. She explained, "A person never really stops loving somebody, no matter what they do. It's not always true, but for me, it was."

Sakura thought for a moment about her words, and then fell on the floor and put her arms on Naruto's bed, crying heavy sobs.

.

.

.

"Sakura," he groaned in pleasure as he was thrusting repeatedly, both in and out. Thinking about her and screaming her name, it made the whole experience ten times better. Though it was only Karin, treating her as if she were someone else made him feel so, so close to the edge…and to his first—

Her shrieks of pleasure broke his illusion again, and he stared down at the woman he thought he made love to. Instead, it was a woman he had simply fucked multiple times. This one was no change. He had never made love before.

He was out of her and groaned in frustration, rolling over on the side of the bed, his back against her, his body away from her. He didn't want to see her.

Sasuke was close, so close, and it was all ruined. Ruined by a simple scream.

Karin loomed over him, her hair hanging in front of her face and onto his body. It tickled him, but he didn't' care. He didn't care about anything anymore. Only cherry blossoms.

"What was the point of that?" she said quietly at first, and then screamed. "What the _hell _was the point of that?"

He didn't respond, but turned even more away from her.

"Look at me!" she shrieked. He could sense that her tears were falling considering the drops of water on his skin. "What difference is she to me? How is she so much better than I am? I can give you anything and everything you want, and what can she give you? Nothing! I give you my love, but you throw it away like the chocolates I give you on Valentine's Day…" she sobbed. "Nothing is good for you. What makes her better than me?"

Sasuke didn't respond, but only listened to Karin's hoarse crying.

"Why? Why her? She hasn't even talked to you much, or touched you the way I have, but still you choose her! You just pretended I was her and touched me so sweetly, it was like a dream. But I know you were thinking of her. You were screaming her name, god damnit!"

Karin began pounding on the mattress, clawing against Sasuke's skin. "It's not fair, Sasuke-kun…it's not fair. Why do you love her?"

At this, he turned around.

"Love…her?"

Karin sniffled, and immediately turned angry through her tears. "You love her, you bastard! As much as I hate to admit it, it's true. Though you obviously haven't slept with her yet," she snarled. "The way she you think about her and how your mind is filled with her means that you love her. How do you think I feel, me loving you, going home to a different man every night at a bar, pretending it's you? All I think about is you. You fill my mind and my heart and soul and body and I love you so much, and I know it's not lust, but you can't give it back and it's killing me, Sasuke-kun. You're killing me," she sobbed. "I know that you hate me and see me nothing more than a fuck buddy, but at least you can learn to love me. She'll never be the right woman for you, but I'm always here with open arms."

Sasuke responded coolly, "I don't love her."

Karin whispered, "You're lying."

And judging by everything she had said about love, he knew that she was right.

Sasuke did love her.

He just never realized it.

.

.

.

Naruto quietly opened the door, hoping not to wake Sakura. Instead, he saw her curled up on the bed, her head hiding from the world, in her arms, and soft sobs, while her bcak was rising up and down slowly with every breath.

"Sakura-chan?" he murmured, touching her hair gently. She slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, glaring at him. "Don't ever go near me again, Naruto! I thought I could trust you, but apparently, you're just like everyone else!" the tears flowed again. "You're just like everyone else..."

Naruto felt his own eyes water and wiped them away. "I didn't tell anyone, Sakura-chan. I promise. If you could just let me explain...then," he said, before she turned her back away from him. He lied down next to her and tried to touch her shoulder again, but she jerked away.

"Stop it. I don't want to be near you. I don't want to be _with _you!" she screamed, her voice cracking from being so hoarse.

He felt the sting of his tears again, and hurriedly wiped them away so that he wouldn't show weakness. "Sakura-chan, let me tell you everything. I promise that it'll all make sense."

"No!" she screamed, pushing him away, avoiding his touch. Then, quietly, she sobbed, "Please don't touch me, Naruto. I'm sorry, I just..." she sniffed, and then whispered, "It all happened so fast."

"I know," he said, his own tears falling out. This time, he didn't do anything to stop it. "I know, Sakura-chan. I wanted to protect you. It's my duty to protect the person I love, and that's you." He held her tight, and she flinched, but didn't pull back. "I love you so much."

Sakura laid her head against his chest and smelled him through her stuffy nose. "I…I know."

"I know you love Sasuke," he said suddenly, and she looked up, as if she had heard that the world was ending. She nearly laughed at that assumption. Of course she didn't love him! She didn't even _know _him very well, but…yes, he was attractive, but that didn't mean that she loved him.

"I've seen the way you act whenever his name is mentioned. I know that at first you hated him, for what he did to you," Naruto mumbled, his hand stroking Sakura's back. "You've never had any real interaction with him, just me, but your eyes tell everything. Your words and your heart and your soul, they're all thinking about Sasuke. He's filling your mind. I know that when you're with me, you think of him. You think of my best friend, and I understand. He's so much more better looking than me."

Sakura felt the tears crashing on her, and she held her breath. Everything he had said was true. She did think of him quite a lot…

"You say his name in your sleep. I've heard you, when you were here, on my bed, sleeping. I still have your scent on my pillow because I'm afraid I might lose it if I wash it or if I sleep on it. I love you, but you can't return it."

"I…I say his name?" she muttered in his chest. "I don't…I don't remember."

"You probably wouldn't," Naruto said. "I don't understand. How can you love someone that you hate? It makes no sense, Sakura-chan. But I'm here, and I can give you everything and anything…I told you that."

"I don't deserve you."

Naruto held her tighter. "I think you do."

But Sakura's mind was focused directly on the thoughts of Sasuke: Him touching her, him speaking to her, just the sight of him and how lonely and desperate and unfortunate he was…

He needed a friend. Naruto filled that hole.

He needed a love. Sakura loved him without even knowing it, and she hated herself for loving him and not Naruto. But she couldn't help but pity him and love them anyway. One as a brother, one as a less lonely man. She loved him out of pity, but loved nonetheless.

"Sakura?"

She looked up, and saw that Naruto was lifting up the hem of her dress slightly, his hand crawling up to touch her skin. She thought that he would touch her…in…

"I want him to stop," he muttered, fingering her largest scar: the one below the breasts and above the navel, as Sasuke had imagined. "I want him to stop hurting you, because doing so is hurting me." He took his hand out and kissed her forehead. "I'm going to kill him."

Sakura's eyes widened. "No!"

"I will. I'll kill him. For you."

She shook her head and held her hands to her ears. "No, no, no! Stop it, don't say anything anymore. Please, you've said too much to begin with!"

Then, she ran out the door, in the dark night. While everyone else was sleeping, she ran hard, in her barefeet and red dress that Naruto had bought for her. She thought to burn the clothes, but realized how precious it was to both him and her, and decided to keep it.

She heard Naruto catching up, and decided to trick him by hiding in a corner while he called out her name.

.

.

.

"Sakura...Sakura-chan!" Naruto called, clad in almost nothing but his school pants. "Where are you?"

It had been at least an hour since she had escaped, and he couldn't find her. She couldn't have run far, considering the damage on her body, but he didn't know _where _to look. She was tiny, but not tiny enough to crawl into small places, and big, but not big enough to be totally visible.

"Sakura…"

Then, he heard his phone ring, and picked up.

"Naruto."

It was Sasuke's voice, and Naruto immediately became angry.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" No friend terms. Just seriousness between two men.

"I need to talk to you. About…about Sakura."

"What do you want to talk about? There's nothing to talk about. Leave me alone, Sasuke. Just go back to your whore."

"DOBE!" Sasuke screamed, before Naruto heard panting on the other line. "Listen to me. I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for everything, and…I saw. I saw what happened. At the park. I listened. And I know. I've known about her…issue for a long time. And I want to help you on helping her. I miss you," he said, adding the last part quietly. "I miss you a lot."

Naruto growled. "She ran away, Sasuke. I'm trying to find her right now, but you're holding me back!"

There was a pause, before Naruto calmed down again and said, "Sasuke?"

"Go home. I'm going to find her."

Before Sasuke could hang up, Naruto said, "Wait!"

"Hn?"

Quietly, Naruto muttered, "Tell her I love her."

* * *

**sasusaku, finally! xDDD i hope uguys like it. ik it was a little sudden how the sakura loving sasuke part came in, but i want to inish this fic soon. i'm only halfway done...blahhh. ther'es a big part coming up and . so thanks for all the reviews u guys gave! altough we didnt get to 195, i love u al anyway and thanks so much for R&ring!**

**if you look back at the other chapters, there are small hints where sakura is thinking about sasuke and that slowly leads up to their indirect love.**

**the next chapter will be the first part of a...hmm. should i say?**

**nah. review if you want to read!**

**200 reviews?**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	12. twelfth, the blood appears again

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

Sasuke ran. He searched everywhere he could.

And it was _raining_.

"No," he muttered to himself. "No!" He wouldn't let her get sick. She couldn't be alone out in the pouring rain, just by herself in the cold. He wouldn't let her.

"Where could she be…" he muttered to himself, thinking of places she would hide. Definitely not her own house. That was stupid to go back to only get killed.

An alleyway? He panicked—bad things happened in alleyways. He would know. He did bad things in alleyways.

A closed space. Small shelter.

He thought of one place nearby fitting the description.

The park. Where all three of them were just there that night.

.

.

.

Sasuke was dressed in nearly nothing. It was cold out and he felt the sting of raindrops on him, but he didn't' care about that. All he cared about was her safety, and right now, she wasn't safe until he knew where she was.

He searched the park, the whole thing, and saw nothing but rain drops pelting everywhere. It was raining so hard that he could barely see his own hand.

"Sakura!" he yelled. "Where are you?" he ran, but couldn't see past a couple of feet. "God damnit, Sakura, don't hide from me!"

He saw the bench where Naruto and she were spending their romantic moments together, and he wanted to hit himself for thinking of that. But that bench was something on it, closed tightly like a roly-poly on the wood, curled up.

And then it moved.

"Sakura!" he screamed as he ran towards her. He saw her face scrunch up, and her red dress was wet from the rain. She was cold, and so he took the little pieces of clothing he had left on and wrapped it around her.

"Don't…" she said weakly. "Don't touch me."

He growled, and picked her up, as she tried to fight him. "Don't touch me, please! Let me go, just go away!"

He held her tight to him and began to run. He found her. He needed to get out.

But he couldn't see.

He headed the way he had come from, which honestly, he still didn't know, and began to run. He felt her heavy breathing and warmth radiating off him and held her even tighter.

"We'll get there, Sakura, I promise. We'll be warm soon and I'll give you some hot tea."

"No…" she said weakly, her eyes closing. She was falling asleep, but trying to fight back…

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "I'd never hurt you."

She didn't respond.

.

.

.

He had finally made it to her house and called Naruto. Although it was late, he picked up, and said worriedly, "Where is she? Did you find her?"

"She's sleeping. Under the weather. She has a slight fever, but I'm taking care of her. I'm giving her some tea and some antibiotics and she'll feel fine the next day."

"Sasuke…"

"Naruto, I know what to do."

Naruto paused, and then he said, "I know she's sleeping, but can you put the phone to her ear? Please?"

Sasuke went to the sleeping beauty in his bed, under the covers. He put the phone to her ear.

"Sakura-chan…I love you. Make sure teme takes good care of you, or else!" he said, his voice shaking as he tried to joke. "Call me as soon as you can."

"Thanks, teme," Naruto said softly before he hung up.

Sasuke sat on the edge of his bed, after taking his hot shower and changing clothes. He pressed his hand to Sakura's forehead, and she winced in her sleep, curling up. He gave her another blanket, and stroked her hair repeatedly. He yawned himself, and wanted to sleep next to her, but thought it would be a bad idea and prepared his slumber on the couch across from her.

But he would wake up periodically and give her some more medicine. It was killing him to stay up like that, and would definitely ruin his schedule, but he put that in the back of his mind.

.

.

.

"Nn," Sakura groaned, rolling around the bed. "It's cold," she muttered.

"I know, Sakura, but jus take this and you'll feel better," Sasuke said gently. She was still delusional, and it was now morning, but she was still feeling horrible. "Come on, just drink this…"

He tipped her head so that she could down the liquid, and fell back onto the pillow.

"Nn," she said again, but quietly this time. "T-Thank you…Naruto…"

He froze. "Naruto?"

She turned on her side again and made herself warmer. "I'm not Naruto," he muttered to himself. "I'm Sasuke."

"Mm…" she murmured.

.

.

.

He realized that her red dress was making her sick, since it was still wet. He didn't want to take it off her, in case she got mad, but he had a choice: let her get sick, or let her get mad for touching her and seeing her scars.

But he knew what he had to do.

Slowly he let his hand rest on her back, finding the zipper and slowly letting it down. He took a strap off, and then the other, and began pulling down gently, and slowly, watching pale, creamy skin unfold before his eyes.

He nearly fell over in shock.

"Holy shit…" he muttered.

He could see the purple blotched everywhere on her skin and didn't know if he wanted to continue taking her dress of, but he continued sliding off the dress and saw fixed her white bra strap, while the dress was now under her breasts. He was surprised how, for some reason, her breasts were the same peachy color as her rosy cheeks, when they weren't red from a slap.

Then, he slid the dress down her curvy hips, gently fingering the giant scar on her stomach, below her breasts. Just like he knew it would be.

"Sakura…who did this to you?" he said quietly as he resumed taking off her dress.

She turned over again, "nning" in pain, and he stopped for a second, before he went again: her dress was now down to her thighs. The outer part covered in black and blue, but the inner just as perfect as the face.

He finally got her dress off, and he stared for a little bit: she was so beautiful, it was a sin to even have a flaw on this temple. He traced her lips gently with his finger, and put a hand on her waist.

Then, he grabbed a towel and wiped off all the damp parts of her body. Her panties, matching her bra, were white and soaked, but he didn't know what to do with them. He took one of his shirts, (on her, it reached down to her midthigh), and gave her another blanket.

"I love you, even if you're like this. It just makes me want to protect you more."

He wanted to kiss her, but instead stroked her hair and slept on the couch.

Sasuke had been awake for over 17 hours, and it was all for her.

.

**morning**

.

Sakura woke up, rubbing her eyes and holding her head. "I feel dizzy," she murmured to herself. "My head…"

She saw what she was wearing, and held back her scream. Then, her eyes averted to the covers, which were dark blue—not orange like Naruto's, and not white like hers.

Her heart began to beat rapidly, and she saw Sasuke lying on the couch, breathing up and down. She felt her body, saw if any of her undergarments were damaged, if he tried to touch her…

She didn't want to think about it, but she knew it was important. And if he _did _touch her, she would have to know. Although it was disgusting, she put her hand down her panties, but felt nothing.

Sakura sighed in relief, although she was still worried. "I don't remember getting here…" she said. "All I remember is him getting me out of the rain…"

The clock read _11:49_, and she panicked, wondering where her red dress was.

"I have to go," she said frantically to herself. "I need to. Tou-san will kill me, for real this time, and he'll…" she squeaked, and she swore she could've saw Sasuke crack an eye open.

She immediately sunk back into the bed and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She buried herself under the blankets and began sweating, but she didn't care.

She didn't care about anything anymore. She was trapped with no way out.

.

.

.

He saw that she was awake. He knew. She was freaking out, and he knew that she had a right to be doing so. It was hard to make yourself comfortable in that situation. He finally got up, put on a shirt and his jeans, and went downstairs, pretending to ignore Sakura in his bed completely.

She peeked through the covers when she heard him leaving. And she wanted to take a shower. Badly.

The problem was that she could face getting caught and put in an embarrassing situation…not that she wasn't already in one.

Sakura waited, and waited…

And realized that she wouldn't have any clothes but the red dress she wore to wear. She was trapped, again.

So she just lied back down in the bed and tried to sleep the whole day through.

.

.

.

Sasuke made himself a tomato omelet, and took out some fresh fruit for Sakura. He figured that she was the girl who really liked breakfast in bed, or just fruity breakfast in general, with some milk or tea.

He realized that she would still feel sick, so he put a few clean strawberries in a bowl and poured some tea, mixing honey into it.

Then, he took the two dishes upstairs, waiting for her to come out and eat them. He opened the door to his room and saw her still scrunched up, trying to sleep.

"Sakura, breakfast."

She didn't budge, so he tried to pry the blankets away.

"You have to eat something," he said, a little frustrated.

She still didn't answer.

This time, he tore the blankets away from her, so they were at her shoulder, and she scrunched her face up, not looking at him.

"Eat this."

"Go away!" she said, her face buried in his pillow. He sighed in frustration, then left the bowl on the dresser next to her, at arm's length.

"Eat it when I leave. I want to see it all gone."

Sasuke stared at the lump under his covers, and left to go downstairs and watch TV. He lied down on the couch and began flipping channels.

The first one he turned on was the Playboy channel. A girl was suggestively showing her body and touching herself sexually while the cameramen cheered her on.

He remembered that he hadn't watched TV in a long time.

But he changed the channel, for some reason not feeling the lump that was supposed to come in his crotch. Sasuke didn't know what was going on, but it occurred to him that he didn't like those things anymore. Not that he didn't like sex, it was that…

He closed his eyes and thought of Sakura, lying in his bed, nearly naked with his shirt on. He wanted to be next to her and hold her tight while feeling her gently, like he did with Karin while he pretended that the redhead was someone else.

Sakura.

The Uchiha clock ticked slowly. Tick. Tick. Tick. Each second passing by like an hour. _12:54 pm_.

He lied down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, hugging a pillow to his chest. Then, he stared at the empty box of strawberries on the kitchen table, and then turned his sight back to the ceiling.

.

.

.

Sakura finished nibbling on her strawberry, the last one in the bowl. Her fingers were soaked red, like blood, and she wiped them off on her leg. She scrunched back up, really wanting to use the bathroom, but didn't want to get off the bed and be exposed to cold air.

She tried to make herself hold it back in, but she was about to explode if she didn't. So quickly, she scanned the doors to find which was the bathroom: not the one on the diagonal right, because that was the room to the main house. The other three were either closets, or all of them were. Maybe there wasn't a bathroom and she'd have to pee in his bed.

Whatever.

She quickly got up and turned the doorknobs for all of them. Two were closets. The last one was a bathroom.

Sakura sat down, and sighed in relief as she began folding up toilet paper. After flushing, she saw some clothes of Sasuke's that were on the side of his shower and bath, and thought deeply before turning on the hot water for a bath.

She couldn't remember the last time she had a bath, but dipping her feet in scalding hot water was so refreshing, she moaned in pleasure.

.

.

.

Sasuke heard the water running, and was going to go up to tell her that, "Great, you're awake. Now tell me everything what happened and try not to cry, because then I'll feel really guilty and I don't know how to comfort a girl very well, and I might cry too, but you're not allowed to see that."

The water finally stopped running, and he closed his eyes, imagining a waterfall with the two of them, in the middle of the water, completely naked. The water was waist deep for her, hip deep for him. She had long hair that covered her breasts (though he liked her either way), and looked down at her reflection, not wanting to look up at the real him.

"Sakura…" he said softly, the roar of the waterfall conquering them. "You are so beautiful…" she shivered in the cold water, and he held her tight, his manhood pressing against her. She jolted, but slowly lifted her arms and began to hug him back.

In his dream, she had no scars, and her body was the color of perfection. Exactly the tone he wanted it, not a shade lighter, not a shade darker. Her normal tone, except without all the violence tattooed on her skin.

"I love you, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly into his chest. He tipped her chin up and stared into her sparkling green eyes, shinier than the pure, crystal water.

His mouth was slowly approaching hers, and he felt her hot breath on his, before—

The water drained. She was out of the bath, and he snapped himself out of his confusion. Such a lovely dream, destroyed. Shattered. Gone and annihilated into pieces.

Love can control you and make you do crazy things.

.

.

.

_5:13 pm_.

It was late. The time passed by so quickly, without either of them knowing it. Sakura was still in her bed, her stomach aching from eating more food than she usually ever had. She decided to get up, and look for something to do rather than counting numbers in her head repeatedly. As she began searching, she found an old scrapbook with pictures in it in his dresser and no name.

She opened it up.

The first picture was a beautiful woman and a stoic, handsome man with two young children. She figured one was Sasuke, and the other…was his brother, perhaps? Cousin?

She flipped to the next page. It was Sasuke, eating his first tomato. He had such a huge smile on his face, Sakura would've thought it was cute if she wasn't so unsure about her feelings for him. She kept scrolling through the pictures and found everything from his birth to his current age.

Sakura then heard faint footsteps approaching upstairs. She squeaked, slid the book underneath the bed and climbed back in, her back towards the door.

Hiding underneath the covers, she turned her back way from the entrance and held her breath as she heard him come in.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly. When she didn't respond, he moved closer to her and finally sat on the side of the bed, touching her head through the blanket. "You're okay, right?"

"Mm," she said, giving a small agreement.

"That's good."

She waited for him to leave, but it never came. Groaning to herself, she begged quietly to make him leave. "Go, go…come on, just leave…"

He put his hand on her head and stroked her hair through the blankets. "When Naruto told me, I was really worried, you know?"

She gave a small reply.

Without warning, he pulled the blankets away from her quickly, (but also tenderly), and she squeaked. She was unprotected. He looked at her with eyes that made her want to cry, and he grabbed her, holding her tight against him. Her hands were at her sides, but she wanted so desperately to push him away, yet keep feeling his warmth…

"Stop," she mumbled softly. She realized that she didn't want to keep doing this. It was dangerous. "Please don't touch me."

"I don't want to stop," he said. "It's my job to protect you."

Her eyes widened.

He knew.

But she didn't know that he knew for all this time. She pushed him away, and it hurt her.

It hurt him even more.

* * *

**uyp yup sry for late update haha. i left the file at school and went to winter brek aand coulnt do it again...blahh stupid me haha.**

**so happy new yr lol! hope your holidays were good and stuff. tel lme about it!**

**real sasusaku soon, i promise. wiat ofr the next chapter and ... uhh yeah haha. tahnsk sooooooo muc hfor teh reviews, too, everybody. 212? I LOVE YOU**

230 this time? ^^ you guys are great, and nvr let me down.

**ilysfm.**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	13. thirteenth, it's flowing hard

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

.

"Sakura, I know that you hate me. I know you can't stand me and I understand that I'm hurting you in every way possible, but I want tyou to listen to me."

She turned her back away from him, feeling the heat behind her face, the tears arriving. She impatiently wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Sasuke just sat there, watching her curl herself up in the fetal position and sniff softly. He didn't ask her anything. Didn't say anyting. Just kept silent and waited for her to finish.

"Do you hate how I care for you? Do you hate that I'm not Naruto?"

No answer.

"Say something."

He rolled her over on her back gently and loomed over her, pinning her to his bed gently, but enough for him to keep her still.

She was forced to look into his eyes, and desperately tried to turn away, but couldn't. His hand was holding her chin tight and she had no choice but to stare at this face that caused everyone so much misery.

"Stop," she said weakly. "I don't like this."

He didn't say anything. Just stared at her with those sad eyes, and pressed his forehead to hers. He felt the salty tears running down her cheeks and he licked them up with his tongue gently.

She winced. "You're hurting me," she muttered.

"I don't mean to hurt you."

Sakura attempted to push him off, but his strength was overpowering her. SHe felt his hot breath against her lips, and realized how close they were to kissing.

Then, of course, she realized he'd never kissed before, judging by how he didn't know what to do. Besides, she knew it from Naruto, anyway.

Sasuke's hand found its way to her waist, holding her gently to him. He was turned on, but it was the wrong time for him to be. This was precious, and he was ruining it with his hormonal lust.

Sakura's voice pierced the silence. "You want me." It was a fact, not a statement.

"I...do," he said. "I want you more than anything. I need you, Sakura."

"If I let you have me...will you promise to let me go?" She loved him, yes. It all happened so quick, but nevertheless, it _happened_. But she couldn't stand to be near him, at all costs. He was unpredictable. She couldn't live with that.

Sasuke didn't hesitate to ask her whether it was okay or not. He jumped right in immediately. "This can't be reversed."

"I know."

Sasuke began. He saw her body already, but didn't have the chance to feel it, the love crevices and the sweet path of skin that was layered all over her.

Her shirt (or more precise, his) was off. It was gone. On the ground. Her bare breasts were uncovered. And they were beautiful beyond his imagination, even more so that he was able to feel them. Unlike the ugly scar under them, and her back marred with bruises, staining her light skin purple, her femininity was surprisingly unmarred.

The body under him was literally a Greek goddess.

When he saw that her eyes were turned away, he kissed her forehead gently. Not an actual kiss, but still something.

"You are beautiful."

And she burst into fresh tears. Seeing her body, looking at all the imperfections and everything, he loved her anyway. Beauty, even with imperfections.

Like her.

Like him.

.

.

.

His lips were on her neck, placing small love bites on the tender part of the skin. It moved down to the valley of her breasts and he kissed them gently, feeling the soft, firm mounds under him. His lips were on her nipples, nipping at them, making them hard.

Sakura really wanted to moan, ot let something out, but she held it back in. She was burning, but she felt that she could still keep it in for a while.

"Good?"

"Mm," she said, something that could be mistaken as agreement.

He snuggled his head between her and fists were tightly wrapped around her wrists, too, and it hurt her a little bit, making the blood circulation cut off.

He felt his lust overpowering him, but he knew that he had to be careful. This could never happen so fast, not with the girl he loved under him, willing to give her virginity away.

She felt his lips on her stomach, hands on her scar, his long fingers stroking her gently. Clutched on her hips, he pressed his hard shaft against her panties, which were wet. He assumed it was from the rain, but he didn't feel her equal warmth radiating through the cloth, so he ignored it, though slightly disappointed.

With his knee, he nudged her legs apart. Her arms were still held captive and she did nothing as one hand went to touch her inner thigh. Though she felt another spurt of warmth spill.

"Touch me," he muttered. He let go of her hands and she felt the blood rushing back. Then, he led her hands to his hair, and made her clench her fists around his locks. "Do what you want to me. Anything."

"Sasuke..."

She gasped out in pain, feeling the weight of him on her wounded body. He immediately loosened up, and she felt her lungs being able to breathe better than usual, despite her heart rapidly pacing.

Sakura heard a small sound of fabric on the ground and saw that he was shirtless, his muscles and chest that made her look ugly, like a rotten papaya, and she couldn't help but hate him for being so beautiful...

His jeans were tight, a size too tight, and he couldn't stop the pain that was aching in between his thighs. She was driving him crazy and heat burned against his crotch like fire.

Quickly, he undid his belt and pants, too. His naked arousal pressed against her womanhood and she blushed furiously, not wanting to look at him at all. This was far too embarrassing, but it felt so good...although she couldn't give in to him. Ever. That was a sign of weakness, and after this, she would never purposely cross paths with him again. This was a goodbye, in the sweetest way that she could give, even if it meant hurting themselves later on.

Sasuke's fingers were on the elastic of her panties, tugging slightly, and wanting to rip them off as quickly as possible, and plunge himself into her warmth, coating himself in sleek happiness that he only dreamed of.

"No," she whispered gently. He looked up at her and saw that she turned her head away, again. He used his hand to make her look at him, and his eyes filled with worry when he saw a glossy layer shine.

"Stop?" he immediately began to roll over, in order to get off her.

"No."

Sasuke sighed, slightly embarrassed since they were in such an awkward position. He never thought that he would become embarrassed when it came to sex, but she changed him into a whole different person.

"I'm going to finish this."

"Sakura, if you don't-"

"Shut up!" she said, nearly yelling. His eyes widened for a moment in surprise, and before he knew it, he was on top of her again, with her hand on his neck, dragging his face to hers. Their lips touched, and she gripped him fiercely, as if her life depended on it. Sasuke couldn't think, the feeling of mouth on mouth, mixing scents of cherry and spearmint together. Not only did it taste good, tasting like love, but something provoked him, and he realized that he was no longer the dominant one when it came to kissing. He was a novice in this, or to put it more 1337-liek, a noob. And she, he knew, was...not a virgin in this. Because of Naruto.

But they didn't know what happened. Whoever took her panties off, he wanted to thank them, whether it be her or himself.

She pulled apart from him, looking at both their naked bodies while her breath quickened. Finally, she said, "yes," without him asking. She hated how he kept asking her if it was okay.

Damnit, if it wasn't obviously she'd say something about it!

Sasuke stared for one second, just one second, before he feverishly kissed her again. He was so caught up in his lust that he forgot about her bruises and put his weight on her again, making himself more comfortable. And she, too, forgot about the pain for a second, and let pleasure take over. Only for a little bit.

Who says no one could enjoy themselves nowadays?

Although he knew that she was a virgin, he plunged deeper into her harder than he'd like it to be.

She screamed, and he realized that he hurt her. He came out gently and back in, feeling their slickness join together like saliva. All that was running through his brain was hot, hot, warm, woman, heat, slick, beautiful, lucky, amazing, unbelievable...

Sakura moved her lips against his and began to rock. It was awkward enough with him inside her and even more so without. She liked the first option, so she made damn well to put him back into her before she went crazy.

And they moved, moved, and continued to sway to the rhythm, as if they were dancing to ballroom music. Step first, move, twirl...

He groaned and held her tight. He caused her pleasure that was killing her inside, but honestly, if she could hold in every continuous beating that was given to her, maybe she could hold in the most amazing moment of her life right now.

She kind of wanted to make a motto, like one of those neat billboard signs she always passed by on the road. "If you can hold in the pain, you can hold in the pleasure." Except that her motto was a lot more tragic and depressing.

In the back of Sasuke's mind, he felt like he was forgetting something. It was something important, but, clouded by desire, he couldn't exactly think of what it was. All he knew was that he would regret it later on, maybe. But it didn't matter. Happiness was what was on his mind. And he hoped hers, too.

Her nails dug into his back like small daggers, and he threw his head back. At that moment, he was a masochist, feeling good in the hurt.

If she were some other girl, he would've considered this the best one-night-stand ever. But Sakura wasn't any of those other girls. She hid a life behind fake smiles and long-sleeved shirts and bandages. Those people, those kinds of people who have nothing and yet strive for so much for what they want...he admired those kinds of people but at the same time he hated her for hurting herself.

Sasuke put his lips back to hers, realizing that kissing was something that he understood why people did it because it was something so addicting and wonderful that he couldn't stop exchanging saliva with her, their lips molding together and him literally eating her face off.

Caught up in passion, he screamed. Let out the biggest yell of his life, and all it was was her name repeated over and over again in grunts of desire. "Sakura-!"

He released himself for her and he heard her sigh softly, whether it be in relaxation or not. Sasuke pried her legs apart gently, making sure not to hurt her sensitive spots.

His head peered in between her thighs and she squeaked, jolting up a little bit. His tongue was in her, where his manhood used to be, and began touching her most sensitive parts with...she shuddered in delight, but refused to speak out.

_If I can hold in the pain, I can hold in the pleasure..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a kiss that was warm and sticky, which she realized, was her. He was back in her again, thrusting as if his end would simply go through the poor thing.

His hands were holding her breasts tight, fondling them and rubbing hard. He didn't worry as much, because there was no damage there, but he still wanted to make sure that he didn't cause her pain.

Sakura realized that she wasn't doing anything to him, besides rocking her hips for him and starting the first kiss. Other than that, she just simply laid there as if she and him were nothing. Just fuck buddies for a one-night-stand. And later, it would become true, because they couldn't see each other after this. After this, the world would change, and the past was the past. They had to forget everything and start a new beginning, and maybe someday he could find a girl that would love him sincerely, as she did.

She wanted him, but she could never have him. Sakura didn't know what held her back from taking him, but seeing Naruto's pain and everyone else around them be hurt, she realized that she would have to go. She had to let go.

Though Konoha was her home, she would leave privately. Finally, she could get away from her dad and start a new life in the village nearby, and forget any trace of Sasuke or Naruto or Karin. Of anybody.

Why hadn't she thought of this earlier?

Oh yeah, because she wasn't fucking Sasuke for freedom.

She wasn't using him, necessarily...the thought made her shudder, which he took for the emotions of the sex. Finally, she felt him cum inside of her, deep squirts that made her feel full and wonderful. He rolled over, clutching Sakura tight to his chest while he stroked her hair. She breathed his sweat in, feeling their closeness merge together into one.

Sakura closed her eyes.

And then she cried.

.

.

.

"Sakura, what's wrong? Is it me? Do you regret what happened?"

She shook her head, and he wiped the tears away from her. One arm was around her body and she softly put her fingers on his chest. It was time. Time for goodbyes. Once she walked out the door, she would start a new life in a different village and get away from everything.

He didn't notice as she, with the same tenderness, pried herself off. Sasuke turned to his side to give his lover another kiss, but his lips met with air.

Suddenly, he sat upright and saw something that made him angry. Angrier beyond anything that could ever have happened, from the time his father had said straight to his face, "You're nothing compared to Itachi." Not even when he found out that she was abused.

Not even the time when he saw Naruto kiss her passionately under the moonlight, the most romantic setting for a woman.

Sakura was leaving. He saw her gather her clothes and wrap his shirt around her body to cover her nudity.

He did the only thing he could do. Jumped out of bed, being naked if not for the sheets that tangled around his waist. He caught her by the wrist, and she shrieked in pain as the bruises were incredibly sensitive there.

"You're hurting me," she muttered, before he grabbed on tighter. Sasuke felt her tears drop onto his hand, but anger conquered sympathy.

"I'm hurting you?" he said quietly at first. "I'm hurting _you_?" he yelled out, and he slapped her face. She was leaving him. Sakura was a heartless bitch.

But then he realized something.

That's what he had done to the millions of other girls he had fucked constantly before. And though some may have loved him, may actally have sincerely loved him, like Karin, he left.

Stood up and walked out the door.

Like she was doing.

Revenge is bittersweet, huh?

Sakura began to cry now, tears flooding down her cheeks like Niagara Falls, just a waterfall of saltwater that came out from her pretty eyes. They were all red and puffy like a peach, and it pained her.

"Stop crying," Sasuke commanded. She couldn't face him, and turned away, covering her part of her features with her free hand.

Sakura hated herself when she was like this. When she sobbed uncontrollably and couldn't do anything but cry. It was like that was all she knew how to do. Sakura was annoyed at herself and wanted to stop, but she just couldn't. It hurt too much. Crying was venting.

Sasuke couldn't think straight. Everything was blurry and his mind was clouded, except with the sounds of sobs.

And then his epiphany came. He realized that he was being selfish and only wanting things for himself, like he always did. Sasuke couldn't keep a hold of her forever.

So he let her go.

She stared at him for a little bit, rubbing her wrist, and wanted to form the words, "Why did you let me go?" they barely escaped, but the sound was audible enough for him to hear.

Sasuke sighed. "God damnit, Sakura, I love you!"

She looked away from him, as if she were embarrassed. She was. And she dropped the shirt onto the floor, her hand on her left breast. It hurt, and she scrunched her face as she winced. Emotional pain was a knife through the chest. Physical pain, comapred to this, was the tickle of a feather.

Sakura wanted to die.

"I love you, Sakura. And that's why I'm letting you go. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have."

He stood up from the bed and walked towards her. She made no effort to get away from him.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her tightly and hugged her, his own tears spilling onto her hair.

"Naruto can make you happier than I can."

The truth hurt. It really did. Sasuke felt his own pain as more tears were shed, and she pushed him away gently, shaking her head.

"I have to go."

Sasuke stopped. Tilting her chin up and giving her one final kiss. The kiss that would change everyone's lives forever, and especially there's.

"Goodbye," he whispered, holding her tight one more time, until she smiled sadly, grabbing her clothes and leaving.

He stared out the door. Sat on the bed. Waited for the click to signify that she was out of his life forever.

But forever is too strong a word. He loved her.

Love makes you do crazy things.

* * *

**ugh, sry i havent updated in a month. ik u guys were waiting forever and im really sry about that, but thank you SO uch for the reviews. you guys made my school life smile and i was so happy! scool has been horrible and stage crew tok up all of y time after school to work on fics...so im sory if this is rushed because i'm watching why why love while doing this...hahahaha**

**k, yea. so anyway. school makes my life miserable. **

**but reviews make me happy. i hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**-cough 260 cough-**


	14. fourteenth, it's stings beyond belief

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Sasuke felt like shit. Shit that had been lying in the sun for a week and smelled…well, like shit. He sat on the bed and pressed the pillow she was on against his chest. He breathed her scent in, warm and sweet like home, and felt himself weaken at the thought. He looked at his hand—the one that had slapped her, the one that had shattered her delicate and pretty face. He was a monster.

A monster out of control and in need for her love.

Immediately he began to punch his fist at the wall, angry at himself and finding no other way to relieve himself of the pent-up frustration. There were cracks beginning to form, and his knuckles began to crack themselves. His fist was bleeding, but that was the only way to get rid of the emotional pain, for the time being.

He lied back down on his bed, his hand bleeding profusely on the sheets, but he wrapped them up to stop. Looking up at the ceiling, he continued to press her pillow and his shirt that he had picked up from the floor to his bare chest, and keep inhaling in Sakura's aroma. He never wanted to forget her smell. He never wanted to forget that she was in his bed, under the sheets, moving with him and giving him the best time of his life—and the worst. But his own scent was mixed in with hers and quickly, her presence had been erased as fast as it had been there. Only his shirt had the faint traces of Haruno Sakura, and he quickly put it in a drawer where he kept his most treasured objects—that way, it could never be contaminated. She was not allowed to leave this room spiritually.

He remembered his cock in her warm, slick cavern, making itself at home while he released himself into her. The warmth of her sweat mixing in with his, her soft, marred skin and innocent face…

Reality kicked back in. He suddenly sat up, just realizing something that he had recently put aside during their lovemaking. He tried to think if he had rifled through his drawer for a condom. Maybe in the moment of passion he had forgot.

Sasuke cursed to himself and hit the wall again with his bloodied hand. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he shouted to himself. He kicked the side of the dresser, felt his skin break and a warm trickle of red sliding down his ankle. He came in her.

"Calm down," he muttered to himself. "It's just one time. Not everyone gets pregnant on their first try."

But he _had _made love to her with desire and fiery passion. In fact, they must've orgasmed at least four times. Sasuke's first orgasm—it was beyond anything he had dreamed of and he'd give his life just to do it again with her. Just with her, and her alone.

Although he had more important things to worry about. Sakura could be pregnant. Secretly, Sasuke was overjoyed inside. He would love to be the father of their child, and maybe they could even get married…though he didn't know why he was so happy to stop becoming a bachelor. He wanted to be with her forever and remain together as husband and wife who give each other love daily…

However, if Sakura _was _pregnant, she could have gotten an abortion. Sasuke's joy quickly disappeared. He didn't want her to have an abortion and he _wanted _the baby. He wanted them to take care of it together. Hell, even if it was by himself he'd take care of it because it reminded him so much of her. It was their baby. The one that they had made together.

While Sasuke was thinking about that, he realized something—they may not even be _having _a baby. There was a chance that Sakura wasn't pregnant. He kept his fingers crossed for whatever would happen. A baby could let the two become closer together.

Or maybe even further apart.

.

.

.

Sakura was crying the whole way home. She couldn't see in the dark, never mind the tears in her eyes. She kept running, wanting to go back home and pack her things, hopefully without disturbing her father. If she was lucky, he would be in an unconscious state and she could just go in and go out. Maybe she'd even dye her hair so that the police wouldn't be able to recognize her when her dad would call a missing child alert.

She expected to come home into the driveway, quiet and normal as usual. Instead, she found multiple police cars and flashing sirens, red and blue blinking over and over again. There were at least three police cars and the house was actually lit.

Sakura went in hurriedly, thinking something was wrong—that he'd called another report. But if so, then they would've been all over town already and found her.

Instead, she went in to find her dad passed out on the couch, blood around his head and an broken beer bottle in his hand. Glass was everywhere, and the paramedics were trying to revive him although it was obvious that he was dead.

"You're Sakura?" one of the policemen asked. She gulped, feeling like she was going to be in trouble, though she had done nothing wrong.

The policeman continued. "Sakura-san, I don't know how to say this…but your father's dead, sweetie."

He half expected her to cry, but inside, she felt relieved. Although it was wrong to be happy over a death, she couldn't help but feel sad at the same time. It was her father, for Pete's sake. No child could possible ever hate their parents, no matter how horrible they were.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Sakura nodded, her face expressionless, and went closer to look at him. He looked disgusting, as always—yellow teeth, bad breath, and bloodshot eyes (if opened, but his eyelids were closed). Sakura thought it odd that he had died in this way, and apparently, the policemen did too.

"This isn't the usual way for a person to die of alcohol," one of the paramedics said, placing him on a stretcher. "With your permission, may we perform an autopsy?"

Sakura nodded, before she froze for a second—in sudden fear.

_"I will. I'll kill him. For you."_

Sakura gulped. There's no way Naruto could've gotten in the house. But the scene was just obvious—it looked like a murder, and if it was an accidental suicide, it was a pretty big coincidence that he happened to look the way he was. Naruto wasn't the type of person to hurt somebody.

But he was capable of protecting the people he loved, even if it meant going to extreme lengths.

She didn't think of anything else as they loaded him into the ambulance. By the time the police left, crime scene tape on the insides of the house, she went to the backyard and threw up.

.

.

.

Sasuke went to school the next day, tired and feeling even shittier than the day before. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was messed up. Even his shirt was inside out, but people just assumed it was because he had a "late night." And he did.

He stopped in front of Naruto, who had appeared out of nowhere and was at least an inch away from him. Naruto had his arms crossed, and his tie was over his shoulders like a scarf. He looked at him with all seriousness and grabbed Sasuke by the wrist, leading him into an empty classroom.

"What happened? You better explain everything to me, because if you don't, we're going to have a serious problem."

Sasuke refused to meet his gaze, but Naruto grabbed him by the collar. "What happened?"

"We made love."

Naruto's eyes raged and he threw Sasuke onto a desk nearby. Sasuke groaned in pain, his body aching, and Naruto grabbed him by the collar again. His throat hurt, but he didn't let that show.

"You made love? What kind of shit is that? Do you mean that you fucked her? Like everyone else? Sasuke, who do you take me for? An idiot?" Sasuke could see Naruto's eyes welling up in tears. "I won't forgive you if you hurt her."

"I didn't—" Sasuke explained. "She agreed to it. I swear. But _she _was the one who hurt me." Sasuke felt himself wince at the memories and even felt the heat behind his own eyes.

"She would never do that!" Naruto said, dropping Sasuke again and kicking forcefully on his stomach. Sasuke let out a choking breath and groaned again. "Sakura is not that type of person!"

"She left me, dobe," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "She walked out on me."

Sasuke staggered up, using the desk for support, but Naruto punched his cheek. Sasuke felt something crack, and held his hand against his jaw.

"Stop lying!"

Sasuke originally thought of fighting back at first, but he realized the pain that Naruto must have been in, so he stood there, letting Naruto shed his tears and sob while crying, each punch hurting less than the next. "Why," he said, his blue eyes misty. "Why are you doing this?"

After Naruto's punches were just feeble slaps, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the wrist and pulled him into a tight hug. He squeezed Naruto to him and pat his back while Naruto, too, gripped Sasuke just as equally. Naruto clutched Sasuke's shirt and murmured, "Why…?"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke whispered, patting Naruto's back in the same rhythm he had used to move against Sakura. One, two, one, two…

They missed homeroom and first period, but who gives a damn?

They were back together, as brothers again.

.

.

.

Both boys continued classes as if nothing happened. However, they had no sign of Sakura through any of the day, which worried them both.

"I don't think she wants to see me," Sasuke said to Naruto quietly. "She'll probably miss one day and come back tomorrow like nothing ever happened."

Naruto sighed. "I hope you're right."

The teacher snapped at them both for talking, so they decided to talk afterwards while they wouldn't be heard or caught.

Secretly, both of them really hoped that she was okay.

.

.

.

She needed to leave. Sakura had to erase the past and start with a new future. Hair dye didn't work on her, no matter if it was semi-permanent or permanent. It washed out after the first wash. She decided to go with a wig.

Sakura decided to splurge herself with food later on, when she had enough money so that she could change her body structure. That, too, wouldn't work—she had a fast metabolism and would always remain thin and curvy, maintaining a model's body. That option was out of the program, too.

It had been a day since she was "impure." Secretly, she loved it, but regretted how much hurt she had to suffer and how she made others suffer because of her. Sakura felt a stray tear slide down her face. She wiped it away.

She collected all the things from the house and put as many as she could into her suitcase. The rest? She went to the dumpsters and got cardboard boxes and bought some duct tape to go along with it. One suitcase was not enough.

Soon, three boxes were finished, set in a corner, and taped shut.

.

.

.

Still no sign of Sakura. Both boys were getting worried and they started to panic.

"I'm scared, Sasuke," Naruto said quietly. He truly was afraid—first, he would never admit out front that he was scared unless he really _was_, and second, he only used Sasuke's name if he was in a serious situation.

"Me too," Sasuke admitted. He had no idea where she would be now, and didn't know what to do. It wasn't a normal situation for him to be in. Or for anyone to be in, exactly.

"Do you think she's at her house?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head. "I don't think so. Though abused children often go back in fear of being caught or found, I don't think that she would go back. Maybe it broke her last nerve. Besides, we don't even know where she lives."

"Yeah."

They kept walking together in silence, the sounds of their footsteps on the sidewalk and the wind blowing against them.

"Do you love her?" Naruto asked, out of the blue. Sasuke looked up at his friend, gazing into his sad eyes, and looked back down at the sidewalk.

"Yes."

Naruto, on the inside, wanted to cry. His heart sank and it was being mashed by his best friend, first of all, who always beat him in everything. But instead, he held back his tears and stretched his arms over his head, pretending to yawn.

"You better treat her well, you hear?"

"I'd never hurt her, dobe." Sasuke smirked at Naruto, which caused him to wipe his flowing tears away and laugh, punching his shoulder playfully.

They both shared awkward chuckles together before Sasuke put an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "I'm sorry."

The mood became serious again, but Naruto wrapped his own arm around his friend. "That's the way life goes. Right now this chapter is ready to be completed. But the rest is still unwritten," he said, singing the last part while choking on his tears.

Sasuke chuckled again, actually laughing, and Naruto pulled him into a brotherly hug.

They continued to search for the woman they both loved. Unfortunately, they were as close to getting there as they were when they started.

.

**two and a half weeks later**

.

Nights passed. Days went. School was unbelievably slow and hearts were breaking. Sometimes, the two would skip school entirely to find her. They tried to find her house, but could not do it on their own. Naruto and Sasuke both went immediately after school, ignoring sports, to go on their "manhunt." They searched every corner, every cave, every crevice for Sakura—in the most public places, and in the most secluded ones, too.

Sasuke would lie on the sofa, staring at the bed where they had shared their (last?) moment together. The way she felt, better than what he could've imagined, better than fantasy, better than the best feeling on earth—it was second best compared to her. She was warm and hot and smooth and lovely and beautiful and perfect, the way a woman he wanted should be.

She was the woman he wanted. She fit all of the descriptions, both physically and emotionally. She was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with forever, wake up in the morning with, hold and kiss tightly with, and have children with. He wanted to protect her. From everything. He always wanted to be her shield.

But she was gone.

Sasuke put a fist in his mouth to stifle the tears. Whenever he thought of her, he immediately became distraught, and went over to the bed to smell the mattress they had both shared their love on. He was afraid that he would taint the smell and erase all memories of her forever, so he kept everything else in a safe place.

Love is bittersweet. It's like coffee—it has a good taste, but a bad aftertaste. True love was like that. It only got better once you were used to drinking coffee and actually started to like it.

He remembered screaming her name countless times. But he couldn't exactly recall if she had said his name. Perhaps he was too caught up in their passion to remember, but he wanted her to scream it. He was desperate for her love, which he had, but…he wanted _more_. Sasuke was selfish. The world knew that. His first step to getting rid of his selfishness was letting her go.

And he completed the task.

Sasuke missed the feeling of her body against his, cradled in his arms. He regretted not going slower and taking his time. She _was_ a virgin, and he had probably hurt her, though she did a good job of not showing it.

Then he realized something.

She didn't do anything under him. She had initiated the first kiss and the first couple of moves, but otherwise, it was all him on top of an inanimate object. Sakura didn't move, but just let him do what he wanted to her. Sasuke felt like crying again. Her first time was ruined because of his lust and desire and he hated himself for it. She deserved so much better than him.

And someday she would find the right man who would love her like he did, with all her perfections and imperfections and they would be infatuated with her beautiful face, her lovely body, and her compassionate personality…

Another tear fell down onto his fist. He let himself cry for a small period of time, letting the feelings out and not holding them back in. He needed her so badly, he felt like he would die. And he would, without her. He was heartbroken.

Is it possible for someone to make you feel that way? Love hurts. But, he knew, it was also the best thing in the world. It just came with a price.

* * *

**so we didnt get to 260, wah, lol. but we were close. the only reason i ask is because sometioems i work really hard on a chapter but i only get about 7 reviews =( so that makes me upset LOL.**

**i hope you liked it! but i promise, this story's not even halfway done.**

**275?**


	15. fifteenth, the tears flow

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

It had been over two weeks since Sakura had last had contact with either Sasuke _or _Naruto. Something strange was happening to her body. First, she missed her period, which wasn't exactly all that weird—she wasn't regular, and sometimes skipped a month, but she planned everything all out on her calendar. So she didn't worry about it, for the time being.

Second, she began to feel sick. It was like nausea or motion sickness, with small stomach pains, but she thought it was probably her period cramps creeping up a little later than usual.

That didn't explain the cravings. Sakura was aching to eat almonds, a food that she usually hated. But at that moment, she was dreaming of bathing in almonds, eating them, drinking them, and swallowing a type of food having to do with almonds. Something was definitely wrong.

Sakura didn't know what could be the problem. She thought that she was coming down with the flu or something, or maybe a cold that was spreading around. Although she hadn't been near anyone in the past fortnight, she couldn't help but wonder if the virus had somehow crept through the cracks of her door.

Then, her eyes widened, and she dropped the glass vase she was holding, ready to pack it into the last cardboard boxes. Little pieces shattered everywhere and fell on the floor, but she didn't care at the moment. She froze.

Sakura had the possibility of being pregnant.

She hated herself for being so careless. Most of all, she hated Sasuke for not protecting her. Maybe he actually didn't even _love _her, but wanted the challenge of her in his bed, like he always wanted. Maybe he never changed.

Maybe she was a pathetic fool.

She felt the tears running down her cheeks, warm, like the blood that was also making its way down her leg. Sakura needed to make sure, to make double sure, so she cleaned up the pieces of glass with a broom and put on her coat and shoes, not bothering to wipe the blood off her leg.

Making sure she brought enough money with her, she ran out of her house towards the nearest grocery store. Something was wrong.

She really, really hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

.

.

.

"I'm not giving up, teme," Naruto growled as he was persistent on searching for Sakura, both of them scavenging the park. "Even if you do, I'm not going to."

"I never said I was, dobe," Sasuke replied, thinking of other places where they could go. They had no idea where the fuck she lived, and if they did, they definitely would've gone by then, evil drunken dad or not.

"Just making sure," Naruto said. He spotted a street vendor on the side of the road and went over to the lady selling shaved ice. Pulling out his wallet, Naruto bought two—one for him and one for Sasuke, though he knew his best friend didn't like sweets.

Sasuke took it, gave a nod of thanks, and sat down on the park's bench (_where both of them shared their first kiss, _Sasuke thought grimly), eating their dessert and staring up at the sky.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

Naruto stppped eating for a second—he put his dessert next to him and said, "What do you think would've happened if Sakura was in love with me?"

Sasuke winced, and he saw that Naruto, too, was in pain, knowing that it wasn't the reality.

"She loves you very much, dobe," Sasuke said, spooning another bit of ice into his mouth. His gums felt numb and he wanted to spit the cold out, but he held it back in to prevent himself from biting his lip.

"Not in the way that I'd like," Naruto said.

There was an awkward silence, before Sasuke said, "She would be much happier with you than me. You treat her pain; I cause it. It would be better if you were the one to give her love and for me to just watch from the sidelines and love her from there."

Naruto didn't say anything, but picked up his shaved ice again and downed the whole thing, crushing the spoon in his hand.

"We're wasting time here," Naruto said as he grabbed Sasuke's wrist, causing him to drop his own food. Not that he cared—after all, the only sweet Sasuke loved was the one who was MIA.

.

.

.

Sakura wanted to hide her pink hair. Silly her forgot the wig, and now everyone was laughing at her pink strands. She hoped no one would recognize her, like from school, and say, "Hey, Haruno, where have you been this whole time? Whoring with my precious Sasuke-kun? You slut."

Quickly she canned the feminine aisle. How she hated her period, but at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be buying a box of pads or tampons and a bottle of pain relievers—not only for her menstrual pains but also for her beatings.

Now, however, she was scanning the pregnancy aisle. There were so many pregnancy tests to choose from, and Sakura didn't know which one was accurate or not. She took the one that was the least expensive, having only a small budget to work on. Quickly going to the checkout, hiding the kit under her coat, she went to the self-check-out lane and scanned it, quickly putting money in and pocketing the cash. Then, she ran to the bathroom, and locked herself in a stall.

The instructions were verbose, going on and on for too long. She finally finished, reading, "Wait for the pink line to appear. It means that you are positive." Sitting down on the toilet, she held the cup given in the kit under her and continued the instructions. "Wait five minutes after dipping the stick in to achieve results."

Five minutes. 300 seconds. A short time. A forever if something life-changing was going to happen.

Sakura didn't know what she felt about the pregnancy. She was upset at first—then a little bit excited. She had made this baby with her own body, and with the man she loved, even though he was a cheating, lying bastard.

But maybe he truly accidentally forgot. Maybe it was just a simple mistake, and he was to blame, not her for being the "slut." She didn't know what to believe. But for now, she decided that she would figure it out later.

Three minutes passed. She was getting woozy and her heart rate increased tenfold.

Four minutes.

And then, as the seconds ticked closer to five, she saw the appearance of a thin pink line approaching. Horrified, she read the instruction manual again.

"It means that you are positive."

Under that, there was a small _Congratulations! _with a smiley face. Sakura couldn't believe it. She dropped the test back into the kit and put the cup of urine down. She counted her money.

There was still enough to buy three more kits. Perhaps the first one was wrong. Not everything is always 100% sure. She'd read somewhere that some tests were more accurate than others.

She kept the stall locked, making sure that she didn't spill anything when she climbed under out into the store again, and hoped that what she learned in science about having to test multiple experiments was proven by her.

She tried three more times.

They were all pink.

.

.

.

She let out a cry and pocketed them. In case maybe, they would soon change their color to negative. Yes, somethings like those could happen.

Even if Sasuke wasn't there for her kid...well, he would never be. She wouldn't ever tlel him, and she'd keep it a secret.

No abortions. She would give birth to her baby, and, if her budget was big enough, she would raise the child as her own and love it tenderly with the care that she never got. But if she couldn't even manage to save herself...the baby would be sent to an orphanage or hopefully adopted to somebody else.

Sakura realized that even though Sasuke may not have truly loved her, (whether he did or didn't, it didn't make sense at the moment), she secretly loved the baby. It was hers, and part of the one she loved, so she was determined to keep it.

"I will love you," she said, putting her hand on her stomach. "Even if your dad doesn't, I still will."

Sakura had heard from other girls that they had been sent away from Sasuke bcause they were pregnant. THat was good. If he gave her money, she could raise the child and go far, far away.

She held herself tight and felt the strips in her pocket. She would look at them again when she got home.

Then, with the little bit of extra cash she had from the change, she went to a nearby convenience store and bought a small cup of almonds.

.

.

.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, we can't give that information out."

Sasuke slammed his fist onto the secretary's table and she jumped up in surprise. "I don't give a shit, damnit!"

He and Naruto were in the school's main office, where all the records were held. Right now, they were trying to find Sakura's address.

"I can't...it's against my job..."

"How much will it take you to spit it out?" Sasuke asked, pulling out his wallet and dumping all the bills and coins onto the desk. Naruto took his, too, and dumped them.

"I can't take this..." she muttered, eyeing the money with greed.

Sasuke would've given her the choice to be fucked on top of her desk, but he only wanted Sakura in his bed and nobody else. He was only with her now, and always would be.

Finally, the secretary cracked, and she took the bills and put it under her shirt into her bra. Sasuke usually would've been turned on, but not anymore.

"You don't tell _anyone _I gave you this," the secretary said, retrieving her folder from the desk cabinet. "If you do, I swear, you're _dead_."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared at her. "You good for nothing whore."

But they were out as soon as she could say something back.

.

.

.

"Have you heard of this street before?" Naruto asked, pointing to the address on her folder. "It's not familiar."

Sasuke looked over. "It's one of those places in downtown Konoha where no one lives. She probably lives in one of those bad places."

He was scared of what her home would look like. More importantly, he was scared for her.

What was happening?

"Excuse me, sir? Could you tell us how to get here?" Naruto asked, holding the address up to a man who fixed his glasses and said, "Yeah. You go there, make a right at the stop sign, and then when you see the clothing store with the red dress on display..."

.

.

.

Sakura was home. It was so different not to have someone pounce on her when she came in and smash her head open with broken glass.

But, really, it was kind of relaxing at the same time. She didn't have to be up on her toes all day.

She dashed upstairs to her bathroom to see if the strips had changed their color. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she took one out of her pocket.

_Pink_.

She took another one out.

_Pink_.

And the third.

_Pink_.

The last one?

_Not blue._

She dropped them all and put her hands back on her stomach. She was definitely pregnant. With Sasuke's child. And he was unaware of this.

Maybe that was the right thing for him to know.

.

.

.

"It's this one," Naruto said. "Look at the number, it matches."

Sasuke stared up at the house which looked like it was ready to fall over. Its paint was peeling and it was all dusty and...it looked like a haunted mansion in which the girl from the Ring was going to come and eat them alive.

"Should we knock?"

"I doubt she's going to answer," Sasuke mutterd.

He knocked anyway. Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. "Her dad's probably in there."

"Does it matter?" Naruto finally kicked down the door. There was no bad man who was strangling her. Nothing.

Sakura heard somewhere enter from downstairs. SHe stopped packing her box and hid in her closet, locking the door and making herself blend on the side.

"Sakura?" Naruto yelled. Sasuke put his hand over his mouth and said, "Shut up."

"Where is her dad?" Naruto said again, prying Sasuke's hand away. "I don't see him anywhere."

"Shut up!" Sasuke repeated. He said, "You go one way and look for her. I'll go the other."

Naruto nodded, and went towards the left. Sasuke to the right.

"There's crime scene tape..." Naruto said, making Sasuke turn. "And there's dried blood and broken glass."

"What the fuck...?"

Naruto paused. "Could it be Sakura-chan's blood?"

Sasuke didn't want to think about it. He held back the tears that threatened to fall and said, "Look upstairs."

They both split up and went upstairs. Sasuke went into her room, and Naruto in the other. Sakura felt Sasuke's presence, and made herself scrunch up even tighter. She held her breath.

Sasuke saw nothing. The room was normal, except for...

The boxes on the floor? Moving boxes...?

"What's happening...?"

He then went into the bathroom, and she released a small breath.

Sasuke went through the whole thing, looking at the drawers to see if her toothbrush was missing, looking in the bathtub if she was perhaps there, and then the trash can caught his attention.

The familiar pink strips of so many girls he had seen before were lying in the trash. Four of them.

"She's pregnant. WIth my child."

Inside, he wanted to jump with happiness. Instead, he gave a small smile and let a tear fall.

"I'm so happy."

That meant that Sakura was alive.

That meant she was still somewhere out there.

Sakura felt her own tears fall and hiccupped. He wanted the baby. He really did love her.

But that wouldn't change her mind.

.

.

.

"Sasuke, she's moving. Do you see these boxes?"

"Yes."

"Well then, we have to stop her, damnit!" Naruto yelled. "I won't let her go!"

"Do you think she's in here?" Sasuke asked, looking at the cabinets and closets. He wondered if she was in one of them, and Sakura held her breath again, her face quickly turning purple from the lack of oxygen.

Before Naruto had a chance to say anything, his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered. His face quickly turned solemn, and he said, "I have to go, Sasuke. My parents need me."

Sasuke gave a small nod of understanding and was ready to search more of the house, until Naruto grabbed his wrist. "You're coming with me."

"But..."

"You're not finding her without me."

Without either of them...she would have a better chance to escape. But seeing how Naruto's grasp was so tight he felt that his bones would split apart, he went unwillingly out of the house into the wild.

Sakura stepped out of the closet as soon as she heard the door click shut. Then, she held herself and her unborn baby tight and felt another tear slip down.

* * *

**it was pretty predictable that she was pregnant. like esriously. it's cliche and w/e but it's needed for the story.**

**thanks sooooooooo much for 280 reviews. i was sooooooo happy! seriously! u guys made my day x3**

**i'll update soon. keep reviewing!**


	16. sixteenth, the pain is unbearable

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

"Why do I have to come with you?" Sasuke said, wrenching his arm away from Naruto's grasp. "She could run away with the time that we're not looking for her, or if one of us isn't here."

Naruto held onto Sasuke's wrist again, even tighter. "My parents need to talk to me. To you. To us. Apparently, we're both in huge shit and you'll be the one to explain half the stuff to get me out."

"Naruto…" Sasuke began. He'd gladly take all of Naruto's blame, if he could just find Sakura and hope for her not to run away, and to stay in the same place. He figured that it would only be a while before she decided to take her things and leave, so he'd hurry it up as soon as he could.

"I know, I want to stay, too, but I can't. I can't be here and there at the same time. As much as I love Sakura-chan, I love my parents more. Family, then friends, Sasuke."

"But why do I—"

"We're here," Naruto said, letting go of Sasuke and looking up at his house, where the lights were on and the mood was…eerily quiet. Unlike their house which was usually loud, boisterous, and full of moans.

"Brace yourself," Naruto warned. He pulled the key out of his pocket and slide it in, turning sideways. "The bullets are firing."

.

.

.

They left. Sakura knew that they had left and she was glad and happy and grateful. She only had a few hours before they would come back again, and by that time, she had to be gone. It didn't matter if she didn't have any of the stuff with her. The boxes could stay. But she, however, needed to find money and, either sell things or earn a job.

If worst came to worst, she would be working as a prostitute for a red-light district. Not that it would matter anymore, because she had already experienced sex before. Now that she was impure, it didn't matter who she gave her body to.

But that job was the last thing on her list. Only in need of a dire situation. She was not there yet.

She traced her fingers over the strips that had made her cry—both in happiness and in sorrow, and clenched them hard. There were painful memories and she hoped that she would never have to relive any of them.

If she hadn't agreed to giving her body up to Sasuke, she wouldn't be pregnant.

If she didn't fall in love with him, she could've been happy with Naruto.

If her dad didn't beat her, maybe she would've been happier.

And if her mom hadn't died, they could've been a picture-perfect family.

There were all these "what ifs." But there was nothing to do to change that. The past was the past. Now was the present.

She thought back to Naruto. He was at his parents' right now, and she knew that if his parents found out that he was a murderer, they'd definitely disown him, no matter how much they loved him. What was it like to have a murderer as your son?

She wished him luck and stepped out of the closet, stretching her limbs enough so that it wouldn't make her body hurt.

.

.

.

"You are unbelievable."

Kushina's voice echoed through their whole house, as she seemed to loom over Naruto and Sasuke, both of which were taller than her. Her arms were folded, and she looked serious. She was. Minato, too, faced the same expression.

"Kushina."

She looked at him with her blazing eyes, and said, "What, Sasuke? I'm not in the mood to be nice right now."

"It's not Naruto's fault," Sasuke said, feeling the bomb drop down on him. He clenched his fists and bit his tongue. Her hair flared up, and immediately, both boys became scared.

"What do you mean? Sasuke, I swear, if you're defending him for something…"

"No. It's my fault."

This time, Minato stepped in. He looked at both men seriously and said, "We need to have a real conversation. Between adults. I don't want to talk to kids. I want the truth."

They could never explain the situation with Sakura and what had happened. So, Sasuke, being suave and standing up for his friend, spoke.

"It's my fault that he skipped school and that we ditched. It's my fault that he's in the trouble right now. It's not his. There's nothing to do with him. It's all me. And I'm not saying it because he's my friend. I'm saying it because it's the truth. Naruto only listened to me, but I forced him to go. He originally didn't want to. He's not the one at blame."

Kushina shook her head. "Sasuke, I appreciate your apology, but that is still no excuse. Do you know what I felt when the school called and told me that he was missing? And what I felt when he didn't answer his phone? Do you know how scared I was?" Kushina began crying, and Minato held her tight while he stroked her hair.

"We need to talk later. Please leave," he stated. Both of them did gladly, before Minato stopped them. "Don't go anywhere out of my sight."

That caused both of them to freeze in their tracks.

.

.

.

"Let's go, let's go," Sakura said, urging herself to be strong and quick in finishing her "chores." She stared at the whole house, the one that she had grew up in, and the faint bloodstains on the floor from when she was beaten and bruised. The area where her father was murdered was still preserved by crime scene tape, but it still hurt her to think that one of her best friends, her savior, and her "brother" was a murderer.

Sakura closed her eyes and bit her lip. _I'll kill him. For you._

It was no time to be crying. She had no excuse and she needed to finish what she started before either boy came back.

How could Naruto stoop so low to do such a thing for her? She hated herself for making him love her, and wanted to cry. But that would show weakness and she wasn't weak. Sakura was strong.

It was like those TV shows and songs that sang about love and how much it heals you and how much it hurts. It was like a dagger piercing through you and killing you slowly, and seeing your lover cheat…was unbearable. The gun was loaded and ready to be fired. The belt was undone and hung on the closet.

Sakura finally knew what love was. The good and the bad.

Whoever said that it was better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all was a fucking idiot.

That was complete bullshit.

.

.

.

"Sakura…Sakura-chan," Naruto moaned as he rocked back and forth in the fetal position on the ground, his hands on his head and his head buried in his knees. He was curled up into a small ball and Sasuke could see that he was crying, but said nothing of it. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, hoping that Kushina would hurry up and finish yelling so that they wouldn't be late.

"I know, Naruto," Sasuke said, offering a comforting hand to him. He didn't know how to comfort somebody very well, whether it be girl or boy, so he just sat there and watched them bawl.

"It hurts," Naruto moaned as he clenched himself even tighter. "I'm hurting."

"So am I."

He had never seen Naruto in a state like this. Clearly, he loved her just as much as Sasuke loved the same girl, too. Having to choose between two best friends was heartbreaking. But Sakura had made her choice, and it was irreversible. It wouldn't matter though, if they didn't hurry the hell up and leave as soon as possible.

"Will she come back?" Naruto asked, looking up at Sasuke with his teary eyes. Sasuke sighed. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I want her to stay."

"I love her, Sasuke," Naruto whispered as his eyes became red again. Sasuke felt warmth behind his own, and looked away.

"So do I."

.

.

.

Sakura's back hurt from moving everything. She needed to take a small rest, and promised herself, looking at the clock on the wall that she would leave behind, that she would only sleep for ten minutes. No more than that—she needed to hurry. Time was ticking and was being wasted for a few dozes.

Not wanting to lie down on her father's deathbed, she lied on the carpeted floor and felt the firm rock-like texture under her, making her uncomfortable. However, she dealt with it, twisting and turning until she found a position that she liked, and closed her eyes, getting rid of all the bad memories and the sorrows.

If she had a fantasy land, it would be in her dream, where Mommy was alive, Daddy wasn't a bad man, and Sasuke was with her forever and was never with another girl. Granted, he never _had _been with another girl ever since they…made love. She was thankful for that and loved him even more than she should have, but regretted letting him go.

It was the painful outcome, though.

Maybe Naruto could find another girl to love. They'd still be best friends and just like siblings, but she was upset that she couldn't be the woman for him. She would never be. She wasn't Naruto's type, and couldn't make him as happy as she could with Sasuke.

She _changed_ Sasuke.

She had accomplished the impossible.

Knowing that was enough to make her sleep peacefully without fear.

.

.

.

Karin was crying in her bed. She had thrown everything all over the room and threw her clothes everywhere. The room was a mess, and her "waterproof" makeup, she found out, wasn't really waterproof. In short, she looked like a druggie on the streets and was as skinny as one, too. She was so upset that she hadn't eaten or gotten a drink in a whole week.

"It's not fair," she mumbled to herself. "It's not fair! What does she have that I don't?"

She changed to contact lenses instead of her glasses and colored them with the color-lenses. He ignored her. She even dyed her hair a temporary pink, and he ignored that, too.

Karin tried to be exactly like Sakura, in looks, but he still didn't pay any attention to her!

She felt like she wanted to die. Without Sasuke's attention and his love, there was no point in living. He was her everything and she needed him by her side, even if it was only for the night.

The little whore was going to die.

Karin made sure of it.

Pulling a knife out of her drawer, she began to sharpen it and wipe it clean, so that she could see her reflection in it. Smirking through her tears, she slid it slowly over her wrist and watched the blood drip onto the blade.

Then she licked it.

Karin liked the taste of metallic liquid. Maybe that's what Sasuke tasted when he fucked her so hard he nearly came out the other end of her. After that, he would lick up her "virgin's" blood, with a slightly disgusted look on his face. She couldn't recall him doing that again.

It didn't matter. The blade was continuing to be sharpened and with every stray drop of blood, Karin used her tongue to lick it up.

Yummy.

.

.

.

Sasuke was waiting. Waiting for Kushina. Waiting for Sakura. Waiting for himself.

He was waiting too long.

Kushina needed to hurry the hell up with her emotions and get herself together. After all, she wasn't the fiery red habanero for nothing.

Soon, he couldn't stand watching Naruto cry or the second hand click on his watch. He lied back on the sofa and closed his eyes, replaying the love he had shared with Sakura and how good it felt, and how much he missed her and cared for her. He would die for her, and literally do all the things that Bruno Mars said in his song _Grenade_, including jumping in front of a train for her, but…would she do the same?

He thought of names for their unborn baby. There was a dream of the happy couple already forming in his head. Sakura would be wearing a pretty white sundress and both would be holding their child's hand in their own while Sasuke kissed Sakura on their picnic blanket, lifting up her sunhat and tossing it aside.

Sasuke thought of names for a girl, and for a boy. He didn't really care what the baby would be, but he was really hoping for a girl with pink hair and dark eyes or a boy (not the splitting image of him) with black-blue hair and green eyes. That's what he really wanted. A child that looked like both of them, to prove how their love consummated to make this together.

He would name his daughter Sakura. Or Mikoto, after his mother. For his son—perhaps it would be Itachi, like his brother, or Fugaku, like his father. But he was hoping for Itachi, because he knew that Sakura would not be pleased with the name of a father-in-law. If they were to marry.

Dads were out of the question.

They always had been.

.

.

.

Kushina regained her senses (at least, most of them) and wiped away her tears. She had never been as emotional before (besides the time that she was pregnant) and was unsteady and weary.

"Naruto. I want you to answer me truthfully. Did you kill Haruno Sakura's father?"

Both boys widened their eyes, and Naruto shook his head, his jaw dropping in unbelief. "No…why would you think that? Mom, you raised me. I'm your son. You know me better than anybody else. Would I do it?"

Kushina gave another sob, and Minato held her in his arms while he said, "Someone saw you both trespassing private property. When they looked inside, they saw blood and a crime scene. Did you, by any chance, contaminate the area? Or were you the ones that started it?" Minato hated himself for asking this question to his son. Naruto was not a murderer.

At least, everyone didn't want him to be.

"I—" Naruto began. He stopped, and said, "It's true that Sasuke and I went into her house. But that's because we were worried. We were worried about Sakura-chan. I swear, the tape was already there when we went in. Sakura's somewhere. She's going to leave soon and if you don't let both of us go, she will leave Konoha forever and we will never see her again." Naruto began to sob freely, crying through clenched teeth. Sasuke, too, felt a warm tear drip down his face, but wiped it away before anybody could see.

The secretary gave them both away. Was money not enough? Sasuke wanted to go and find her and wrap his hands around her little throat and squeeze. Hard.

Kushina stopped crying, and Minato stared at them with a severe look. He was about to punish them severely, but instead, the redhead whispered, "Go."

"What?" Naruto asked through his tears and runny nose.

"She'll leave if you don't catch her in time. Just don't think that I'll let you go scotfree. Come back soon."

.

.

.

"Hello?" Sakura said as she answered the phone. It was from an unfamiliar number (one of the community centers of the own, perhaps?) but it definitely wasn't form either Sasuke or Naruto.

"Is this Haruno Sakura?"

"Yes," she said, becoming nervous. "Who is this?"

"I'm the officer from the supposed crime. Your father wasn't murdered. Granted, his position of death was incredibly rare, but it wasn't somebody that killed him. He was intoxicated and shattered the bottle on himself. But even if that weren't so, he would've died anyway from alcohol poisoning. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Sakura hung up the phone and stood with her mouth wide open. Naruto didn't kill him.

Naruto was innocent.

But she still had to leave.

* * *

**sry for the alte update, guys. i was rly busy with the whole month (like, rly rly busy. i'm not joking. essay, research papers, newspaper article,s etc.) so im soooo sorry i couldnt update. thansk for all the reviewers and everything. you guys make me feel awesome. i love reading each one of your reviews soooo much. you guys make me keep writing.**

**thanks to everyone! hope to have the next chapter up soon!**


	17. seventeenth, it's too severe

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Sakura didn't know right from wrong. Black from white. Or anything else for that matter. The world was so confusing, and she didn't know what to think of it. She could barely get by herself, but having people with her just slowed her down.

She was wasting time. Sakura knew that she needed to get out. _Now_.

Looking back at the boxes and then at the spare clock on the wall, she decided that she would just leave the things back at the house—it wasn't as if she had anything special or of value to her. However, she took the picture of her mother to take with her in her small suitcase, and her own gold jewelry to sell for food and survival—not by using her body. According to herself and the baby, she belonged only to Uchiha Sasuke, who was the one that made her and broke her.

But of course, he didn't know that.

Time was running out, Sakura noticed. She needed to hurry. She'd wasted enough time already. So, stepping out of the front door into the world (what a scary, scary world), she looked back up at the house where she grew up in and where she spent her long years of hell, and waited for the tears to come.

They came.

Unfortunately, it wasn't for leaving the building. It was leaving forever.

.

.

.

Karin bandaged her wrist, but realized that it would have caused too much attention. Instead, she used an arm-warmer as a "cover-up," which was stealthy, because she used arm-warmers anyway.

Pushing her glasses up with the sharp blade of the knife, Karin smirked as the glass shined. It was a pretty, blinding reflection, and Karin liked the way it made her squint with pain.

_I'll stab her little eyes out and she'll go fucking blind and bleed her impure blood, that little nasty whore…_

This was obsession beyond anything that she knew. Even Sasuke wasn't as obsessed with Sakura as she was with him—because he…actually _loved _her, but Karin…

She said that she loved him, but did she really mean it? She know that she'd go through the world's end for him, and back, but was it enough to let somebody go?

Karin didn't care at the moment. She already knew where Sakura was. It was nice how the pink slut's sugar daddies paid the secretary bitch to keep quiet. Of course, anyone will do anything for money—if it meant violating the codes.

Therefore, Karin was able to get the address easy. And, she was also letting Sasuke pay for what he had done. They wanted to stop her? Too bad.

She'd be dead by then, anyway.

.

.

.

"Hurry up!" Naruto yelled to Sasuke, as he got onto his bicycle. Sasuke stared at the thing that would get them both there (it was only a one-seater), and realized: "We won't make it."

"Yes we will! Now hurry the hell up!" Naruto yelled impatiently. He didn't care about his helmet. Sasuke thought for another moment, before he said, "Go there first, and I'll see you there."

Naruto didn't hear him. He was already passing red lights, speeding past cars in the little crevices, and dangering his own life, along with others.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. It was faster if Naruto went first, and tried to calm Sakura down by soothing her. Asking her to stay. For him.

After all, if it was Sasuke himself who went, she would have probably already been gone from Konoha.

.

.

.

Sakura was shaking. She was nervous. Standing there with a small suitcase next to her at a seemingly eerie subway, the trail not arriving and was late by at least 10 minutes, minimum. She didn't have anything to read or any money to buy.

So she decided, in order to prevent any traces of Haruno Sakura, she would use money: cash. Never credit cards (not that she had one, anyway), or cell phones (just prepaid or pay phones). She'd erase her past, start a new life, dye her hair and change her name, and take care of her soon-to-be son or daughter by herself in another place.

It was quiet and disgusting and she was the only one her age there. The people around her seemed like a suspicious crowd, what with the beggars on the corners smoking and clawing onto bypassers' legs for spare change.

Adult men in their late thirties and forties were covered in stubble, smelling of alcohol and sweat and sex (perhaps from a prostitute? an affair?) and looked violent. Sakura gulped, and turned away. The images were coming back to haunt her, like they did every day when she came home before she found him. Dead.

Sakura felt uncomfortable and frightened. it didn't really seem like the good part of the town, and so she kept her suitcase tighter to her in case of any pickpocketers or thieves.

However, that wasn't what she had to worry about.

The sign told the passengers that the train would continue to be delayed until about twenty minutes later. Sakura sighed, and decided to go back up the stony, cold stairs and away from the dark, creepy place crawling with nightmares. She would sit in the decent part of the station, where little kids would laugh at her hair color and some teenage girls would snicker at her fashion sense.

It was better than down there.

Sakura closed her eyes while she climbed up the staircase, the metal handbar cold and disgusting against her skin. She felt that it was wet, and winced, but nevertheless kept a firm grip.

When she opened her eyes, she was at the top. She felt lighter.

Her suitcase was missing, but was in the hands of a manicured hand, with red acrylic nails an inch long, followed by the click of stilettos on the floor, and long legs that reached up to a dirty skirt, a half-buttoned blouse, and—Sakura nearly moaned at the sight—a face that was so utterly disturbing that she wanted to cry.

It was like in one of those horror movies where the person had gone crazy—and it seemed the same with Karin, but worse.

Her hair was all over the place. Asymmetrical red locks were frizzy and all over her. Her glasses were crooked, half broken, taped back together, and dirty, with tear stains and other objects. Her face was caked with makeup and tears, dried and red and splotchy, and her eyes—red irises were matched with swollen, puffy eyes that put her fire-red color to shame.

Her lips were chapped and she looked terrible. Sakura, as much as she didn't like Karin, wanted to reach out and help her.

"Don't!" Karin shouted, slapping Sakura's hand away. Though Sakura had never really interacted much with the girl, she knew this person's character and didn't necessarily like it. but, she wanted to help those who were in need.

"Don't' touch me," Karin snarled, staring at Sakura with her unwashed face. "You don't deserve to lay your filthy hands on me, you whore."

Those words cut through Sakura and made her freeze. They hurt, and Sakura immediately disliked the girl again. With effort, she said, "I—I want my suitcase back."

"Yeah?" Karin said. Sakura gripped on the handlebar tighter and saw the glint of the knife. Her eyes widened, and Karin smirked as she pulled it out of her purse.

"You saw it already? My, my, you're fast." Sakura screamed, but apparently, in subway stations like those, screaming was normal, girls getting raped and molested on trains happened every day, stabbings occurred in plain view, and suicide was committed on the tracks.

Sakura wanted to step back, but she realized that the stairs were in the way. Would she rather take a chance, or fall?

Clutching her stomach, she tried to think of a way to get past Karin and call for help. She didn't need the suitcase, and realized that she was in a serious situation. Sakura was playing a game of live or die. cat and mouse. Her, of course, being the mouse.

"I know you guys fucked," Karin said. "I can see that. You act as if nothing's wrong and you're leaving for no reason. but I know. I know everything about Sasuke-kun."

Karin stepped closer to her, her high heels making the soothing sound Sakura loved to hear so much.

Seeing Sakura clutch her stomach tight to her with her free arm, Karin raised her eyebrows. "Pregnant on your first try? Good job, honey. I didn't get pregnant until my fourth time. Unfortunately, it wasn't Sasuke-kun's baby, because I hadn't met him until later. But, you know, the guy I slept with was ugly. I aborted the little thing." Karin snarled at her stomach. "Are you sure that's Sasuke's child? Is he sending you away? Poor little pinky, all alone in this mean, bad world full of rainbows and glitter and sparkly fairies. As if. Maybe this is Naruto's kid. Or Sensei's. Or somebody else. How many have you slept with now, huh?"

Karin began to scream.

"Sex feels good, doesn't it? You want more and more of that pain and pleasure and don't want to make any commitments. This is a no strings attached thing! Fucking for fun is a hobby, and I know that you're going to grow into it. Why do you think I sleep around? It's because no one loves me," Karin said, then beginning to cry and whimper. "Sasuke-kun doesn't love me, but I love him. It's so unfair…" Karin said. "I hate you," she said, spitting in her face. "I hate you and I hope you die!"

Sakura thought that was a half-hearted threat as she went to comfort Karin. It wasn't.

She felt warm blood drip down from her forehead, and almost into her eyes. Her back was on the ground, and her stomach hurt. It was as all the muscles in her abdomen were being torn apart, piece by piece, by Karin's dagger.

There was no blood on the knife Karin held, and Sakura realized that the knife was never used in her plan. She felt cold stone against her body and numbness, along with warm, oozing blood, blurry vision, and the unbearable pain of her stomach clenching tightly against her. Bruises were sure to form.

Karin, seeing what she had done, smirked in congratulations as she wiped the knife clean of fingerprints, dropped it, listening to the small _cling! _on the ground, and saw Sakura writhe in pain because of her, knowing what it felt like to Karin. One or two people turned their heads to look at the scene, but the others turned away, either not wanting to get involved, or not caring.

After all, she wasn't worth anything.

.

.

.

"She left."

Sasuke finally caught up with Naruto, who was inside her house, down on his knees. He was sobbing heaving sobs, and Sasuke could see his shoulders rising up and down repeatedly, heavy breathing included.

Sasuke wasn't one to give up that quickly. He looked in every place, (at least, was beginning to), and Naruto said, "I checked every corner already. Every crevice. Every door and closet. It's wiped clean."

Sasuke looked towards the many boxes where they were neatly packed and ready to go. It made him want to think that she had some chance of still coming back, but he realized that, after looking through the things, nothing was of value.

She really was gone.

Sasuke, too, felt warm tears in his eyes, but wiped them away impatiently. There was no time to cry. If they hurried enough, they could still catch up with her.

And maybe they could persuade her to stay.

Sasuke ran out of the house, leaving Naruto to wonder where he was going. Honestly, Sasuke had no idea where to start, but he made sure to check all the public transportation places, using his phone to call transportation services, all giving the same answer: "I'm sorry, we can't give that information out."

The only thing left to do was call 911.

"Hello, what is your emergency?"

.

.

.

Runaways are nothing. No one cares about people leaving on their own free will. Especially if they're no-good sluts who give themselves to anybody before marriage and love and try to live the life of a "teen mom" like the TV shows do.

Sakura knew that. She moaned and cried out in pain, feeling more blood drip down her temples and her face. She was crying, and salty tears mixed in with crimson sanguine. No one paid attention to her. Something like the feud they just saw happened every day, and was a normal part of life.

In fact, the nicest thing anybody said to her (if they even acknowledged that a seemingly dying girl was on the floor weeping in pain) said, "Can you go die somewhere else? I need to go upstairs and you're in the way."

Sakura wouldn't let herself die. She also wouldn't listen to anybody. Instead, she snarled, and held her stomach tighter to her, feeling even more searing pain run throughout her body.

"Fuck off." Nasty words came from her mouth, and the woman who asked stared in anger while hmphing, and stepping over Sakura, making sure that her heel hit at _least _her finger.

Let them do what they want, Sakura thought as she gritted her teeth, and watched the world go black as her head knocked against the stone.

.

.

.

"We don't file police reports for runaways," the police officer explained for the third time. "I'm sorry, son, but she left on her own free will."

Sasuke threw the phone down and kept running. He didn't hear the _"Hello? Hello?" _that echoed from behind, and didn't care. He'd get a new phone later.

But, realizing that he needed to call more people in case they'd seen her or moved in with her, he ran back and got his phone, the call ending at 5:62 minutes. He picked it up and put it in his pocket before he felt it vibrate and ring again.

"Hello?" Sasuke shouted, angry, not even bothering to look at the caller's name.

"It's Naruto. I found her."

.

.

.

Sakura woke up, hazed and confused, and panicky. She didn't know what happened, how she got here, _where _she was, and who was the good Samaritan who actually _cared_.

She wanted to move her hands, but they were held tight. An IV was hooked up to her arm, white sheets were on top of her, and the whole room smelled of sickly sweet sterile smell. She realized she was at the hospital.

The heart monitor kept beeping. She had an oxygen mask put on her, and taken off, and near-death experiences.

They saw her bruises and her imperfections and probably said, "Another one? Jeez, we got four others over there…"

Sakura felt a sticky wetness between her legs. It wasn't…her juices, but it felt like the same kind of stickiness when it was her time of the month. It wasn't that time yet, but then she realized, she shouldn't be having her period unless there was an accident, and she actually wasn't pregnant.

The fact disheartened her, and she gave out a small cry. She was at least glad that she was alive and well, and wanted to thank the person who brought her here before finding a safer way to travel rather than…her previous experience.

But why did the blood seem so much thicker and stickier? Sakura saw that, under the blanket, she had dyed the mattress red with her blood, which was something that never happened with her. She was usually very light…

Sakura finally noticed that her hands were being held by two men, both on either side of her. One was Naruto, crying and kissing her palms repeatedly, sobbing whispers and regrets and pleases…it was so garbled that she couldn't understand a word.

On the other was the man she didn't want to see. Sasuke, staring at her with worried eyes, full of affection and love and sorrow, and it hurt her even more than the clenching of her stomach.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said quietly before kissing her hand again. "You worried me sick." She could hear that his voice was crumbling and he didn't say any more, because it would have been to garbled, anyhow.

"Sakura."

Sasuke's deep, suave voice echoed throughout the room, and she hated how she loved it so much. However, she refused to make eye contact with him. It would only cause her more pain.

"Look at me," he said, looming over her. She wanted to turn away and close her eyes, but she just couldn't help and stare at his beauty, and remembered how he felt over her body. So sweet, so gentle, so tender…so full of love.

Knocks on the door interrupted them. "Excuse me, Miss Haruno?"

Sakura gave her a small, weak nod.

The doctor stared at the two who were with her, and said, "I'd like to talk to Miss Haruno in private."

"That's a shame, because you won't get to," Sasuke snarled as he gripped Sakura's hand tighter. "We're with her."

"I don't know if I can—"

"It doesn't matter. Speak up or forever hold your fucking silence."

The doctor widened his eyes, and _ahem_ed, regaining his composure. Sakura felt her chest rise up and down and the stickiness between her legs become even more thick and gooey.

"Miss Haruno?"

"Hai."

"I don't know how to say this, but…" the doctor lowered his eyes and gave a small bow. "We couldn't save it."

She didn't know what he meant, until the bleeding made sense. She had had a miscarriage. The doctor bowed again, and said solemnly, "I'm sorry for your loss."

All that the three men in the room heard was a weak scream, and felt her hands being wrenched away from their grasp, while she turned on her side and cried softly, pulling the blankets over her head.

* * *

**yeah, the pregnant and miscarriage thing was a cliche, which was inspired by both Koizora the omvie and in the palm of my hands, and the ending scene was also inspired by koizora too. it's a great movie if u guys havent seen it =3 so saddd**

**well, we're officially half way there. WHOAAA LIVING O NA PRAYERRRR.**

**thanks to all of you who reviewd, especially hizashi uchiha (name right?). you guys are all awesome! i worked erally had on this chapter even though i didnt have much time...so i hope u guys like it, even if itis really rushed.**

**bt,w i'm taking down "Her Prince," so if you want a copy send me a PM and give me your email and i'll send the file to u.**

**thanks everyone! please rviw!**


	18. eighteenth, the wound is deep

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanjeffdoes, because he likes little girls. like youuh. pedobear.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Death would have been less painful for her than what she was feeling right now. In fact, she welcomed death with open arms. Hiding under the blanket, she sobbed and sobbed like a little girl and felt her eyes swell, her cheeks turn red, and her nose run while she just lied there on her side, feeling worthless and absolutely shitty.

The doctor said some things to both boys before bowing and leaving. Sakura felt the stickiness become even wetter and colder between her legs, and she squeezed her thighs together and tried to warm them up. She hated the blood. She wasn't supposed to be here.

She wasn't supposed to let her little sweetheart be killed. It wasn't fair, and Sakura realized that Karin was right. Life wasn't fair. What can you do about it? Cry and weep and hope everything goes back to normal?

The world was a scary, dark place. And Sakura wanted out. She'd had enough of it. They always said that good things come to those who have to wait—after years of child abuse, she got Naruto. But after meeting Karin, she fell in love with Sasuke.

They all came back to hurt her and haunt her.

"Sakura…"

She felt Sasuke's familiar hand on her head over the blanket. She wrenched him away but turning on her side violently, but he kept his grip on her. She heard Naruto's voice cracking, and that broke her heart, knowing that she was causing her best friend pain.

"Sakura-chan…no, please don't hate us…we just wanted the best for you. We…we love you."

She kept silent.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, wanting to know what caused her to be like this, in a hospital bed and not a city twenty miles away. Even though he was upset about his child, probably just as much as she was, he was glad that he found her. Or, more precisely, Naruto did.

He felt her shake her head and he sighed deeply.

"Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong. It's not your fault. We're not blaming this on you."

Again, she shook her head.

Naruto couldn't handle it anymore. He knew that he should have left her there so she could calm down and relax, but instead, he ripped the blankets out of her grasp and immediately regretted it.

There was Sakura, her face a total mess—her body was scrunched up in the fetal position and her inner thighs were soaked with blood, along with the mattress—it was a total bloodbath. Full of crimson color and scarlet blood, along with wet tears, she hid her face by using the pillow, feeling the cold chills of the hospital air against her skin.

How embarrassing—she was in a hospital gown with a giant red stain near her ass and being looked at in her current state…she really _did _want to die.

What else was there to live for anymore? She had already lost everything. When you have nothing, you don't lose anything. It didn't matter.

Sakura finally knew what depression was. It was darkness and despair. It was nothingness and emptiness and everything evil and black, full of blood and guts and death and tears…

She screamed.

Couldn't _stop _screaming.

Both boys tried to hold her tight, especially Sasuke, but she twisted and clenched her fingers and scratched her scalp until blood oozed out. Her eyes were bloodshot and teary and Sakura knew that she was going fucking insane, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Doctors ran in and put the blanket over her head, shooing the two men out. Even with Sasuke's glaring and his threatening skills, even _he _wasn't allowed to stay. They wheeled her off into the behavioral hospital (a nicer way of saying "the insane asylum") and heard her ear-piercing shrieks echo through linoleum walls.

Naruto stared in disbelief at the ground, where droplets of blood stained the white tiles red.

"Sakura-chan…"

He looked up at the doors where she was wheeled out. Her cries were faint.

Naruto turned around to look at Sasuke. He clenched his chest with tears in his eyes.

"She's gone."

.

.

.

Sakura didn't know what was happening anymore. She was going crazy and she swore that the second she was put out of sight of the nurses, she would kill herself. Life was painful and dragging on and on…

Would it ever stop?

"Sakura-chan," the nurses tried to soothe her with their frustrated voices. "Please calm down. Everything's alright now." Sakura didn't want to calm down. She shook her head repeatedly and the nurses had to hold her hands so that she wouldn't try and hurt herself.

They injected her with a drug. She immediately become woozy, but was determined to keep her eyes open. "I'm not going to let you win," she muttered, trying to fight herself. She knew she was losing and that she would be quiet.

"Stop this…" she groaned as the drug took over. She felt like she wanted to puke and became dizzy. "It's…it's not fair."

"I know, sweetheart, I know…we'll get over this, okay? Just go to sleep and close your eyes…" the voices were becoming more and more distant, and Sakura did as she was told. She let herself lose, just one time. It wouldn't change anything, would it?

.

.

.

Karin was surprised to see Sasuke at her door. He hadn't come since he implied that he was truly in love with Sakura. Half upset and half excited, she welcomed him with open arms. He didn't respond to her touch, as usual. But this time, he flinched and became stiff, pushing her away harsher than he usually would have.

Then, he took one step into her door.

"Karin."

She saw by the look in his eyes that he was angry. She knew how angry he could be when he was honestly infuriated, and she soon became scared. He didn't come here for sex or to apologize to her and tell her that the thing with Sakura was all fake.

But she could dream, couldn't she? Karin cursed herself inwardly. She should have _known _that Sasuke would have found out. He wasn't dumb, of course. She knew him.

She knew him better than he knew himself.

Karin got up and dusted herself off. Sasuke pushed her back down. She gave out a small cry but trembled as she saw him moving closer. Then, he picked her up by her throat, watching her struggle against his clenched hand, taking pride in the way she gasped for air.

He, too, had gone crazy.

"What did you do to her?"

Obviously, it was time for denying. "I—I didn't do anything," Karin said, quickly turning blue. Sasuke loosened his grip to get more information out of the girl. Pretty soon, he would be in jail for killing somebody (as much as he'd like it).

"Stop lying." Sasuke already knew through her lies, reading her like a book. She was so simple-minded and so blind…"It's not getting you anywhere."

Karin knew she was going to get blue strangulation marks around her neck, but it wouldn't matter very much because, if she were to die, she would die in vain, with Sasuke as her killer—Sasuke, the man that she loved, would be the one to kill her and to take her life away. Knowing that made her feel a little happier, and she was already feeling high and woozy from lack of oxygen.

"Sasuke, Sasuke—let her go for a second, I think that's she can't breathe," a faint voice (ugh, that annoying Naruto's) said, slurred words in her ear.

"I don't give a flying fuck," he muttered as he stared her in the eye. Soon, she felt the air coming back to her and she rubbed her tight throat, as Naruto held Sasuke's hand firmly in his own.

Then, both men looked down on her, before Naruto spoke up. "What did you do to Sakura-chan?"

Karin was about to speak again, and maybe pass her way with a lie, but Sasuke glared at her with those mean eyes that she was so familiar with. "You're not getting anywhere."

Karin rubbed her throat again, trying to breathe, though she struggled. After seeing how angry Sasuke was, and how sad Naruto was, she decided to finally give in, only for the sake of herself.

After all, she still cared about herself.

"She fell."

That was partially the truth—I mean, it wasn't lying, exactly…Sakura _did _fall. Just not on her own free will.

"That's it?" Sasuke asked. He put his foot on her hand, watching her scream in pain as he stepped harder. "There's something more."

It was like a rendition of good cop bad cop. Sasuke, of course, was the bad cop.

"I pushed her," Karin mumbled, unable to look at Sasuke in the eye, nor Naruto. "I pushed her! Okay? I hate her. I hate that girl so much that it hurts me to even _look _at her. Do you know how perfect we could have been together? Sasuke-kun…me and you?" Karin was screaming and crying and holding onto his leg, sobbing against him. He tried to pry her off, but she held on tighter.

"Karin…" his voice was deep and serious. "I have never cared for you, in any way remotely possible." Okay, Sasuke knew that he was sounding like a douchebag, but it was the truth. He never loved her, cared for her, or felt anything other than lust for her.

"Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and frowned. Then, he gave her all the things she deserved—the few that there were. "Thanks." For what? For fucking him? For loving him? For telling him the truth?

Someone had filed a police report about the shrieks and the domestic abuse going on next door. However, if both men ran at the same time, they could escape—Karin wouldn't ever give up Sasuke to the police (but it was better if she couldn't have him, nobody could). and rat on him, but make him pay for it later. Anyway, her neighborhood was full of all the bad stuff that goes on at night, since she lived close to the "hood."

Naruto gave her a small nod, his face remaining emotionless. Sasuke turned away from her, hearing her pathetic whimpers, and turned back. "We'll talk later." He then grabbed Naruto's wrist and ran, just in time to avoid the blinking sirens that approached them both.

.

.

.

Sakura was awake. It was like she had woken up from a dream—she felt pleasant but ached all over from her wounds. She was fuzzy about everything that had happened and realized the cruel fate that God had given her.

But, like Romeo and Juliet, both were destined to die. It was unfortunate, but it would happen. They were both already dead, anyway.

Pain came back to her in floods, and she cried. She sobbed and sobbed and knew that she had to get out of Konoha, as soon as possible. The first time didn't work. They had caught her. Or, if Karin hadn't gotten in the way, she would probably be in Suna by now.

It was so unfair. Everything. Just absolutely terrible. But, for some reason, as much as she disliked Karin, Sakura didn't know if she actually _hated _the girl or not. Hating takes up a lot of energy and it's not worth it. Sakura knew that she could never be friends with that other girl, but it was nice not to tire herself out with all the boiling hatred built up inside her.

Sasuke might not think so, though. He was rash and reckless—going to do anything and then realized what he had done. He never thought about something when he was passionate about it.

Like after they had made love and he had hit her.

Sakura felt her cheek and knew that he didn't mean it. It wasn't a sign of domestic violence (maybe to some people) but she knew that he wasn't thinking straight. He sincerely loved her, like she loved him, and she knew that her leaving was causing him more pain than his slap…

Sakura's stomach pains were eased (just barely) by the medicine, and she lied back down on her cot, looking up at the ceiling and smelling that wretched, horrible hospital sterile aroma. She huffed it in and felt the IV poke her skin while the nurses came around to check if she was alright.

"Yeah."

From behind, there were swoons, pushing, and commands—and she knew it was from Sasuke, her Sasuke, who came back for her in the middle of the night.

_Well, you know what, Sasuke?_

_You shouldn't have come._

.

.

.

"Sakura—" he pushed all the nurses out and stared at her, breathing heavily, his chest heaving up and down as he gripped the handlebars of the cot. "Sakura, I—I know what happened and she's not going to get off scot-free."

Naruto came up behind him, and was also breathing heavily, leaning against a wall for support. "We were there, Sakura-chan. It was terrible, and so scary…Sasuke…he—"

Sakura didn't want to look or hear any of them. She pulled the blanket over her face and screamed. "Go away!" When Sasuke put his hand on her head, she shrieked. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"

She was turning back into her confused, controlled state. She wanted to see Sasuke, but at the same time, she wanted him to leave. Their love was bittersweet and wrong and so confusing.

Why did it have to happen like this?

.

.

.

Sakura knew that she was acting like a spoiled brat, but if she could escape it for the time being, she would. Anything that let her excuse their presence would make her happy, because she honestly felt like crap and didn't want to be talked to.

Did they know? About the baby and Karin? About what happened exactly?

Sakura felt her heart sink. Oh, no…

"Please leave me alone," Sakura breathed as she peeked over the blankets to see Sasuke, frightened, and Naruto, sweating. "I—I don't want you here right now."

"But—"

The nurses ushered Naruto out—he was easier to handle. Not so much for Sasuke. "Sakura, love," he began, cupping her cheeks. She turned away. "Please don't touch me right now."

"Please, Sakura, I need to hear what you have to say—"

"Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to leave," the nurses said. "You can't bother any other patients. They also need their help."

"I'm not leaving until I get an answer—" Sasuke said, fighting back the hospital personnel who prevented him from going back to Sakura's bedside. "Sakura!" he shouted, struggling. "Please talk to me—anything, sweetheart, anything at all…could you at least tell me that you love me? Like me? Care for me?"

Sakura wanted so much to go up to him and kiss him, holding him tight in her arms. But she couldn't. They had to go their own ways now. She shook her head solemnly and tried not to let the tears fall. He stopped struggling.

His heart broke. She was broken, too. They were both scarred and felt the wound cut deep in them. They say time will heal all wounds, but there's nothing about a scar left behind.

It would take a long, long time before the scar would form its tissue.

* * *

**omfg i know that i havent updated in a month, dont bitch about it plz. i have had a terrible month LOL and plus i have a shitload of schoolwork, i'm not even kidding. plus piano and stuff on top of that...wahhhh i'm dying! haha!**

**well the only good thing that happened was that it was my brithday on may 1st! yay xD i'm a year older (not telling you...maybe i will someday though =P) than i was last year. heehee! **

**badonkadonk x3 my new catchphrase lol! well thanks eeryone for the awesome reviews and replies and everything and im sry this chapter was so short D= i promise to udpate more i promise i promise i promise and if i dont please bug me abuot it in my inbox i swear i wont get mad.**

**ilyguys sooooooooo much. review plz, for me? belated bday gift?**

**love always xoxo,**

**-ohh, &&xena**


	19. nineteenth, you're in trouble

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Sakura didn't understand why she was pushing Sasuke back. She needed him so much…so why did she want to be alone? Was it just her? Or something else?

Was she afraid of commitment? Of hurt? Perhaps she didn't want to be held back?

Sakura didn't even know. She just fell back onto her pillow and made sure the blankets were above her face. She didn't want to think right now. She knew that she was being a brat for pushing him away, and honestly, it hurt her more than it hurt him, but for some reason that was the right thing to do at the time.

Maybe soon he would learn to forget about her. Maybe Naruto, too. Sakura would hope that they would keep a small part of her in their hearts…or at least in the back of their minds. Maybe in the future, when Sasuke was living the bachelor's life and Naruto was married to a sweet girl, they would talk and say, "Hey, do you remember that one Sakura girl?"

And Sasuke would say, "Which one? Fujitana Sakura? Momoya Sakura?"

"No, not her…that one chick with the pink hair. We both had some kind of incident with her…" Naruto would scratch his head. "But I can't remember that well, can you?"

"I don't remember the women I fuck," Sasuke would say, rolling his eyes.

Sakura didn't want that. It hurt to think about it. She screamed and tossed on her side again. When would this never ending hell stop? It was too painful to go on. Too painful, too sad, too hard…it wasn't fair. Not fair at all.

She knew that Sasuke was still within earshot. She knew that she had hurt him. But only if men could understand the pain that goes on in women's hearts…maybe they'd understand better and feel a little more lenient about their actions. They don't know what it's like.

Sakura bit her lip, looking up at the sky and, despite the emotional pain, the physical pain wasn't as bad as before. She could wiggle her toes, move slowly (though it would cause her cramps and stitches), and, with help, make her way up the stairs without falling. Her stuff was on the side of the room, in a cabinet. Though the hallway was full of nurses and doctors and was impossible to get out without being caught, the window was big enough for her to crawl out of. Plus, it was on the first floor, so she didn't have to worry about falling very far.

Looking around, she saw that neither boys were going to come back for a while, thanks to the nurses. She wanted to give them a big hug, but decided against it. Tonight, she would creep out and leave. Not by train, but by foot.

.

.

.

"Is Sakura-chan alright?" Naruto asked, holding a bouquet of flowers in his arms. The nurse gave them a small nod. "She's doing okay. Her anxiety has gone up a little bit and she's sleepy right now, but we've given her the medicine that she needs and soon, you can visit her."

Naruto cracked a smile, but Sasuke just sighed and stared back at the ground. The nurse, seeing his expression, asked, "Is something wrong? Do you need anything?"

He couldn't have hurt her through his mind echoing. Of course something was wrong. And yes, he needed Sakura to tell him how much she loved him. But he didn't say that. What did she care?

"I'm leaving," Sasuke said, abruptly getting up and walking towards the door. Naruto tried to stop him. "Wait, teme—what are you—"

"I'm _leaving_."

He wanted so much to see Sakura, but was it worth getting his heart ripped up again? He walked out nonchalantly, as if there wasn't anything wrong in the world. Hands in pockets, head looking down. By the time he was out of sight, he ran, tears pouring down his eyes.

Would it be a coincidence if he knew that Sakura, too, was crying? She was the angel in his life.

Perhaps the rain pouring down on him was the cause of her tears spilling out of her pretty, pretty eyes.

.

.

.

Sakura got cold feet. It was nearly midnight, and she sat in her hospital bed, her eyes darting from the window to the door. Was anybody going to come? Would they recognize that she was leaving? Or just let her be?

Hopefully she would just be another patient who no one cared about. Maybe not enough to file a missing person report.

After all, runaways don't get enough care.

Would she do it? She thought about what the future would be, and remembered the fake prediction of Sasuke and Naruto enjoying themselves. Or, it could turn out to be totally miserable—Sasuke fucking girls for untamed lust and Naruto, bright, happy, cheery Naruto, depressed and suicidal. She didn't want that, either. It wasn't fair to hurt either of them.

But she had to put her own self first.

Slowly, she brought her legs over the sides of the cot, gripping the edges to steady herself. Hearing the machine beep repeatedly, raising its beeps higher and faster, she growled and tore the IV out of her arm. It stung, but the machine instead kept beeping. She reached for the plug and pulled it.

"There," she muttered. Then, she felt her feet meet cold linoleum, and held her hand on her head to make sure she wasn't going to pass out from wooziness. Her hand was tight on the cot.

Walking seemed so unnatural to her. She took one step—stumbled, but regained her consciousness, then another. and another…they were short and choppy, and she took time in between, but it was quiet and fast enough.

Then, she reached the window, gasping for air and holding her stomach. Turning around, she saw that her other inmates were still sleeping. Good. They needed their sleep.

But, as she stared at the ledge, she wondered how she was going to get up. With one leg, she hopped on the railing, hoisting herself so that she was straddling the ledge, and felt her toes press against soil. Thankfully, her escape was on the first floor.

Now she knew what it felt like to be free. There had never been a more pleasant feeling than the soil in between her toes while she hoisted up her loose sweatpants they had given her, along with the thin T-shirt. It was cold out, but she had seen worse times. Cold was nothing to fear at the moment.

She put the other leg down. Her toes were digging into moist, frigid fertilizer. Sakura, although filled up with emotions, couldn't help but smile and wipe a tear away in triumph.

.

.

.

Sasuke was soon to be 18 in July. It was…around March? April? He didn't know anymore. For all he cared, it could have been May.

He and Naruto and everybody else were going to graduate in June. Most were excited. He was upset. Would Sakura be there with him? Would she be at the graduation? Probably not. She hadn't even shown up for school in the last month or two. He hadn't, either, considering her situation.

From September to whatever month it was, he went through the timeline of meeting his soulmate. In September, he was the stuck up, arrogant, horny male who fucked everything with tits and a pussy. His friendship with Naruto started to dwindle, and he often kept his eyes on Sakura in order to taint her. After all, he'd never had a virgin before her.

Then, when he found out about her problem, that was when he became more interested in her. Not knowing that Naruto knew made it more fun. He felt as if he could have his own secret to himself.

But somewhere along the lines, he started to fall in love with her. Head over heels in love. He became infatuated with her face, her body, but most importantly, her soul. She had a wonderful personality despite her hardships, and just so beautiful at the same time…was it possible to find such a person?

Especially when he saw the cuts and the scars, Sasuke wanted nothing more to protect her. He wanted to hold her tight and wipe away the tears that would come. He would learn how to kiss the first woman ever, and only woman, because she was his and not anybody else's. As much as he also loved Naruto, his best friend, he would never give her to him. Ever.

Then _Karin _happened. If it weren't for that girl…Sakura would never have become like this. Sasuke knew that it was his fault, but also Karin's too, for her jealousy getting in the way. Greed and envy are powerful sins, along with lust—she wanted Sasuke. She wanted all of Sasuke, leaving nothing for anybody else. If she couldn't have him, nobody could.

So, she was thinking of herself, too. Sasuke never realized how much he actually _hated _the girl until she hurt Sakura. His dislike of her was only because of her annoyance and clinginess, but he now truly, sincerely hated her.

And now Sakura walked out of his life. She didn't want to be a part of him anymore. It hurt to be pushed away by the ones he loved, and she knew that. She knew that he poured his heart out for her. But did she do the same for him?

She cared for him, and also lusted after him. But did she really love him? Or were her words just lies? He had changed into a whole different person when he met Sakura, and he was ready to spend the rest of his life with her. Sasuke knew that he was considered "too young" to say things like that, but when he was serious about something, he was _dead-on serious_.

He wanted to marry her.

After high school, Sasuke knew that he didn't want to go on to college if Sakura wasn't by his side. He would search for her and continue to pursue her, making her his until she finally agreed. He would go through the whole land and freakin' Earth just to find her, wherever she hid, whether it be a cardboard box on the side of a street, a brothel (no, no…), or…Sasuke gulped. Perhaps…at the altar with another man?

She would look at him with her pretty green eyes and smile, her rosy lips pursing in for a kiss. She would look so beautiful, but knowing that he couldn't have her…

He looked at his watch. Halfway through the walk-run home, he stared back from where he came, and forward again.

Sasuke would not give up. He would never, for the love of God, give up. Especially for her.

He turned back and ran, feeling the moist, freshly-rained-on grass itch against his shins.

.

.

.

Walking soon became easier again, Sakura felt as she decided where to go. Left, right, straight? It was hard. If only she knew the area better, she might have a better sense of direction…

She decided to take the left. She wasn't bleeding as much anymore and only used a regular pad to soak up her miscarriage. Putting a hand on her stomach, she frowned, and held back another sob.

She would not show emotion right now. There would be plenty of time later for that.

Sakura continued to walk, surrounded by trees and forest and darkness. Honestly, Sakura knew that she was lost, though she could still see the hospital behind her, its faint whiteness glowing. She had second thoughts. Did she want to go back with the woozy medicine and the cozy bed, or the chance of freedom in the cold?

She went for the second option. It was quiet, with only her feet against the cold ground as sound, and faint howls from dogs. Secretly, she was nervous. But she proved to herself that she would not be.

_Rustle._

Sakura turned back, jumping up quickly. Looking at the patch of grass and bushes behind her, she probably thought it was a stray animal, like a rabbit or a deer. Calming down, she took another step and stopped, hearing more rustles coming.

One more—the rustles came back. The second she froze, the sounds went away.

Then, she picked up the pace. One, two, one, two…and the sounds became louder and louder until she finally found it in her to run. There was somebody following her, but she didn't dare look back to see who it was.

Her sides were killing her but she was determined to keep running. Stubborn, she moved even faster and felt the person behind her panting, too. Good. That's how it should be.

Suddenly, she stopped. Her breathing stopped, too.

An angel was right in front of her.

"Sakura—" he shouted as he ran up to hold her in his arms. But, as she turned around, there Karin was, angry, tousled, and with an evil glint in her eyes, along with a large strangulation-bruise around her neck. It was the right size of Sasuke's hand.

She turned back around to look at Sasuke, whose eyes widened. "What's—"

First, there was bright red splattering all over the grass. Next was the unbearable amount of pain against her skull, and then nothingness.

Everything went black.

* * *

**cliches ftw. sry this is short. i have to study for exams but i want to get something in haha.**

**loveeeeeeeeeeeee u**


	20. twentieth, there's nothing you can do

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Well, she was back at Square One.

Her eyes fluttered open and she felt a throbbing pain against her head. Clutching the big forehead of hers, she winced and felt bandages wrapped around her skull.

"You're awake," Sasuke said, sitting in a chair next to her and crossing his arms. Naruto was next to him, along with nurses who had just come to check up on her.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto began, tears welling up in his eyes. "Sakura-chan, when teme told me what happened, I couldn't help but…" he stopped talking, wrapping his arms around her and crying on her shoulder. Sakura stared blanklessly out the distance.

"You suffered a pretty bad head wound, Sakura-san," one of the nurses said, changing her bandages. "In fact, the doctor said you might have gotten a concussion or some faint memory loss, but you seem fine, I think."

Sakura did, in fact, seem fine. However, she kept her straight, solemn face and didn't let any feeling of emotion show.

Like the time where Sasuke had made love to her.

Sakura's eyes fluttered closed again, her lashes damp, but she was determined not to let go of the last thing that could save all their lives and spare them from pain.

"I don't remember anything."

Her voice was weak. It came out in a hoarse whisper, and Naruto pulled back to look at her dimmed eyes, wiping his tears away. "What did you say, Sakura-chan?"

She shook her head slowly. "I can't…I don't remember…what happened, and who any…of you are," she said, her voice shaking with each word. Looking up at the nurses, she said, "I don't remember you." Then, she turned to the shaking Naruto, and, though her heart broke to say it to his already fragile body, she managed to speak the words, "I can't remember who you are," which made him stand perfectly still, shocked and petrified. Sakura continued, pointing at Sasuke.

"And you…" Sasuke hoped that she would remember some part of him. Any part. Even if it was the time where she had hated him.

"I've never met you before."

Her words haunted him and stuck in his mind. He became paler than a ghost—almost translucent. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought otherwise. There was no use trying to argue with an amnesiac.

Instead, Naruto spoke up for him, his eyes glaring red and teeth scowling with fury.

"Damnit, Sakura-chan!" he yelled as the nurses tried to calm him down. "I can understand if you don't remember me, but Sasuke? You love Sasuke! You can never forget the person that you love the most, no matter what happens! Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't remember him!"

Sakura felt tears welling up in the back of her eyes. The nurses pulled Naruto back from their patient, and begged him to keep his voice down. "Please, sir, we have patients who need their rest, and…"

"If teme will just let her be, I won't stand for it. Sakura-chan, you have to remember! You have to, for his sake and for yours. Look at him and tell me if you know this man."

She forced herself to look into Sasuke's sad eyes, and Sakura wanted to turn away, hug him and kiss him and tell him to never make that sad expression again, ever. Instead, she knew that it was only how fairytales go.

"I don't know him."

Naruto stopped gripping her blankets and let them drop to the floor. Without another word, he stormed out the building and Sakura felt her heart break at his figure.

She never wanted to cause him this much pain. Neither of them.

But, she figured it was for the best.

.

.

.

No matter how hurt he was, no matter who she was anymore, and no matter what was happening, Sasuke continued to stay by Sakura's side, holding her hand while she turned away from him, taking medicines for her injury. He cursed Karin under his breath. He had been so close to reuniting them, only just a step away, but Karin's jealousy…he knew she was crazy, but never this desperate.

She had run away once she saw what he had done. Sasuke wanted to chase after her, but knew it was a lost cause. Sakura's blood stained the grass and she was knocked unconscious. Her breathing was heavy and short and pained and he lifted her up, running back towards the hospital, hating how he had to choose between Sakura's health or Sakura's justice.

"Sir, you have to leave." Sakura looked up from holding Sakura's hand and stared at them with a fierce look.

"I'm not leaving until she remembers me." The nurses look at each other and sighed, knowing that it was impossible to try and force him out. Of course, they remembered what happened last time…

"Uchiha-san, I'm sincerely sorry, but you must leave." Sasuke turned around and saw that a doctor holding a clipboard bowed to him, his face stoic. "Visiting hours are over."

"Damnit, I will not leave her—"

"_Uchiha-san_."

Sasuke closed his eyes, his hand still connected to Sakura's. He saw that she was asleep from the drugs that the nurses had given her, and how soft and limp her hand felt in his…

He gave her a small kiss on her palm and intertwined his fingers with hers before putting it back on top of her other hand.

"Fine," he muttered, letting the doctor show him the way out.

.

.

.

"You didn't have to do that, Naruto." Sasuke came up behind his friend and sat down next to the crying figure.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, his eyes red and puffy. Sasuke had barely seen Naruto as upset as this. Sure, he had seen him cry once or twice, but never like this. Naruto wiped his eyes before continuing. "It wasn't just for you."

Sasuke didn't know what to do. He put an arm around Naruto's shoulder and let him sob while trying to hold back his own emotions. Everything was all wrong. Nothing should have been like this. She was supposed to be in his bed, laying her head against his chest while he held her tight.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said quietly, almost inaudible. Sasuke looked at his poor friend, who kept sniffing at his runny nose. "Do you think she really forgot about us?"

Sasuke himself didn't know the answer. And he didn't want to know the truth, if it came to it. There was always some hope, but it was hard to hold on to it…

"No," he said finally. "Sakura's a strong girl. She doesn't give up easily."

Naruto sighed, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Yeah…"

Biting his lip, Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's spiky hair and ruffled it. "She'll make it through, I promise." He gave Naruto one of his trademark smirks, and Naruto, through tears, gave one back, showing all his pearly white teeth.

"You better keep it."

.

.

.

Sakura laid back in her bed and listened to the sound of the IV dripping. Was it too harsh a move to have faked the amnesia thing? Sakura was only thinking about the future of others, even if it meant destroying her own, but was it the right decision to make?

Her head hurt and she felt drowsy, but she couldn't sleep. She really wanted to throw up, but all that came out were gags.

Thinking about Naruto's angry expression and Sasuke's sad look made her groan and tears tingled in her eyes. "No, no…" she moaned.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" one of the nurses asked, looming over her. "Do you need anything?"

Sakura opened her eyes, her hand on her forehead. "I want my life back." A tear dropped.

.

.

.

"There's nothing wrong with her memory," the doctor said, pointing out the scans to Naruto. Sasuke was out looking for Karin, and sent Naruto to go check up on Sakura.

"W-What do you mean? But she was acting…she didn't know me. She didn't know who her boyfriend was—"

"She's a good actress, then," the doctor said, putting the X-rays back in a folder. "But her memory is fine. I guarantee it. She's lying to you for a reason. If I were you, I would get to know why. But you must slyly pry it out. She's a smart girl if she can act like that. Don't get too suspicious. She's going to have to break sometime."

The doctor bowed, leaving Naruto left to think and slump back in his chair, his eyes empty and feeling totally overwhelmed. He ran a hand through his hair, absorbing the words in his head and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Sakura remembered them. She remembered her Naruto, her best friend, and her Sasuke-kun, her lover…

He ran out the door and into her hospital room, forgetting which door and which hallway she was in. It didn't matter. He would gladly check every room just to ask her a question that could prove the truth.

"Sakura-chan, why are you doing this to us?" Naruto growled through his teeth. "I can't believe someone like you would stoop so low…"

He finally found the room she was in, and it all came back to him suddenly. He was sure it was this room. After all, the number was _328_. Her birth number.

Month: the third.

Day: the twenty-eighth.

He turned the knob and saw Sakura sitting in her bed, crying. She turned her head to the person coming in, and said, "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"It's Naruto."

He felt Sakura's body tense and went up to her, grabbing her hand firmly in his, staring into her eyes with intense seriousness.

"Sakura-chan," he said, gripping her hand harder. She cried out in pain. He ignored it. "How could you?"

"I-I don't understand," she said, trying to pry his hand off. "What do you mean?"

"The doctor said that your memory is fine. You've been lying to Sasuke and me. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish from this, but it's not going anywhere. We can make it through this together. Just tell everyone the truth."

She pulled her hand away and pushed him. Naruto, taken by surprise, landed on the floor, and Sakura nursed her bruised hand. "How—"

"Don't ask," Naruto said, wiping his mouth. "Just listen."

He took Sakura's hand in his own again, but a much gentler touch. "He's going to find out. I might tell him, but I might not. Perhaps he has to be the one to find out what's exactly going on. He can't have everything coming to him easily. You can't hide this forever, Sakura-chan."

"I can at least try," she muttered. "I don't want either of you to waste your life away!" she shouted.

"You're not. You're just wasting our own lives by pretending not to know us. Sakura-chan, you're a sweet, passionate girl, but you're being unbelievably selfish right now. I know you're thinking about us, but it's been all about you trying to escape from your problems by running away. And look where it's gotten you—nowhere!"

Sakura began to cry, but Naruto kept his face firm. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, but just listen for a second. I'm going to help you. I don't know how I can do it, but I will help you. But you'll have to trust me. I know that it's hard for you to trust the people you care about, but I know that you can believe me because I believe that you'll stop running away since I know what's going on."

"Naruto…"

He pulled her into a hug. "We'll keep this quiet from Sasuke right now, but I told you. He's going to find out. I won't tell him, but you'll have to someday. If he sincerely loves you, he will forgive you."

"Naruto…" she hugged him tighter. "Thank you."

Sasuke, standing outside the door, dropped the bouquet of flowers he had brought for her, unable to find Karin for today. There was a small _thump! _of the roses hitting the floor, and his hands shook, pupils dilated. Standing near the doorway, he could hear every little thing.

He was about to enter, wanting to know what was the reason behind this, but he stopped when he heard Naruto say, "I'll protect you."

Those were _his _words.

"Thank you."

Those were hers.

"I don't want to hurt him anymore," Sakura whispered. "I just want to love him from the sidelines."

_No, no…it can't turn out like this_.

* * *

**kind of based and inspired by the taiwanese drama Hi My Sweetheart (WATCH IT NOWWWWWWWWW. you wil cry. xD)**

**cliche, ik, but deal with it. the sory is almost done hahahhaa.**

**hopefully it wasnt too sappy...i gt flames for that all the time hahaha. like "STOP THIS SAPPY SHIT" but whatever. i think it's okay right now so screw you all =X i do what i want unless i realize, "wow, this really is bad."**

**so stfu plz?**

**REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**


	21. twenty first, just cry

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

"I'll see you later, Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured as he kissed her forehead. "Get well soon, okay?"

"Okay." She hugged Naruto tightly before she saw him leave. Sasuke, panicking as he knew Naruto was coming closer and closer, looked all around his surroundings for any escape. There was none. Looking at the dropped roses on the floor, and then at the nearest door—a bathroom—he locked himself in, ignoring the roses and locking the door securely, his heart thumping wildly.

Through the crack in the door, he saw Naruto bunch his fists and put his hands in his pockets. Sasuke waited until Naruto was down the hall and heard the _ding _on the elevator.

Then, he knocked on Sakura's door and heard her soft words, "Come in."

With the roses in his hands, the petals scattered all over the floor, he held the bouquet securely in his arms, walking in proudly and looking at Sakura, who immediately turned pale.

"Sa—I, uh…"

"Don't play that trick with me anymore, Sakura." Sasuke, hearing everything, growled and slammed the roses onto the dresser next to her. "I know what you're up to."

"W—Mister, I don't understand what you're—"

"Sakura, knock it off! It's annoying the hell out of me." He saw fear in Sakura's eyes, and knew that he was closer in getting her to crack. He stepped closer to her and saw her fists tighten on the blanket.

"I—what do you mean? Are you one of Uzumaki-san's friends? Naruto just came to visit me a while ago…" she looked down at her hands.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He just kept on crawling closer to Sakura, until his knee was on her bed. His weight was on the cot and he saw that her eyes widened even more, but she quickly turned away from him.

"Really? I'm just a _friend _of him? Of you, too?" Sasuke snarled the words out, angry at how she was behaving. Could she at least learn to respect how he felt, too?

"S-Stop it…you're scaring me," Sakura whimpered, her eyes clouding up. Sasuke knew that he couldn't give in now. He had to press more. She would have to break _sometime_.

"You don't remember me at all? How I used to touch you like _this_?" his hand was on the side of her face, kissing her forehead gently before pressing his own to hers. Her breathing became heavy and she did her best to look away, but Sasuke's hand prevented her from moving.

"Or what about this?" His lips were on hers, kissing her softly as he then became more and more forceful, his tongue prying into hers while he clutched the sides of her face. He licked the roof of her mouth and behind her teeth before sticking his own tongue to play with hers. She "mmphed," attempted to push him off, but he held on tighter, smirking through her lips.

He was now fully on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. His legs were on either side of her own, straddling her. Her chest heaved up and down, and he wanted so much to lock the door and make sweet love to her again…

"Still don't remember?"

"Stop—why are you doing this?" she begged. He hated looking at her upset face, but quietly thought, _I'll stop this once you stop _your _game_.

"Because I want to," he said instead. He kissed her neck before holding her wrists up and unbuttoning her shirt, covering her mouth as she tried to scream. He remembered the beautiful wounds on her body when she was before him, now all gone. All that was left was the scar below her breasts, which he fingered gently, bringing memories to his eyes. This caused a soft moan to escape from her lips.

"You like it?"

Sakura still tried to kick him off, but he held on tighter to her.

"Do you remember who I am?" he murmured as he pressed his head against her breasts. "I'm your lover, your sweet 'Sasuke-kun,' who gave up everything for you…not the Sakura who pretends to forget me."

"Mm—!"

"Shh," he whispered. "By the time you confess, we'll already be having sex right now. And even then, you won't want me to stop because you'll like it so much."

He moved down to her navel, his hand reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra with one hand, and as she felt her thighs getting warmer, she knew she was in trouble. Not wanting to admit it, but seeing that there was no way out, she screamed.

"Stop it, Sasuke-kun. Stop it, stop it, STOP!"

Sasuke pulled back, feeling satisfied on his part, until he saw her tears dripping down her eyes and her soft cries.

"No, no…I don't want this, I don't want—it hurts, it hurts so badly, I—" she began to choke on her sobs, and pushed him off the bed, cuddling into a fetal position.

"Sakura, sweetheart…"

"No! You already did enough!" Sakura cried as she held herself tight. "Go away!"

"I can't do that, Sakura…" She hid herself under the blanket, crying silently, hoping that she would hear Sasuke's footsteps, but instead, he sat on the edge of her bed and held her figure tight through the covers. "I'm not leaving you alone. I did once, and I regretted every moment of it."

She continued to hide under the blanket, knowing that her cover was gone. She had tried so, so hard to maintain it, but there was no use. The one person she didn't want to know found out.

"I love you," he whispered. Sakura stopped crying for a second, hearing his shaky voice, and he said, "If you really want me to leave…then I'll go. But I want to stay with you for as long as I can. Can you at least see my side of it?"

He took the blankets off from her and saw her teary face. She looked up at him with those sad, sad eyes, and nodded silently. Buttoning up her shirt and kissing the long scar under her breasts, he pulled up a chair from across the room and held her hand as he sat next to her, whispering his love for her in heavy breaths as he stroked her hair and watched her fall asleep.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to him as her eyes fluttered shut. "Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry…"

"Shh," he said, putting a finger to her mouth. "It's been a long day. Don't say anything else. Just go to sleep, alright?"

She nodded as he leaned forward and kissed her head. Then, with her small, fragile hand in his, he looked at it and felt as if it was lacking something. Her hand was bare and needed to be adorned with a jewel.

"I'm going to marry you someday," he promised. Until then, he stayed in the chair, waiting for her to wake up.

.

.

.

He called Naruto. It was best if all three of them knew what the situation was.

"Dobe."

"What's wrong, teme?" Naruto's voice answered from across the line. "I'm already in _deep _shit with my parents, and I don't need something else fucking up this crap already."

"Me…Sakura…it's already been solved. The problem. I heard it when you were in her room earlier today, so I went to confront her about it. She broke down and admitted everything. I think I may have been a little too fast and a bit rough, but she said what I wanted her to say."

There was silence on the line, before Naruto said, "I swear, if you made her cry…I will _cut _you."

Sasuke thought back to what had happened, but didn't say anything. He was already feeling tired and couldn't deal with any more at the moment. "Nah, she just spilled everything," he lied.

"Fine. For now, I've gotta go home and deal with the crap you and me got into with my parents. Oh boy, I can't wait to see what my excuse is now…"

Naruto hung up, ending the call at one minute, thirty-seven seconds. Sasuke sighed. He tried to reach Karin, but damn, that girl knew how to get rid of evidence when she was being hunted for by the police.

He still hadn't found the schizophrenic chick running around, trying to smash other peoples' heads in with rocks or pushing pregnant women down stairs and watching them fall like dominoes. Hopefully, somebody would get her. Sasuke knew that she was mentally unstable and that she needed help, but that was still no reason to try and kill somebody over it…

It was near 11 at night when he continued to be at Sakura's side, only getting up to use the bathroom or buy a snack from the vending machine. He pulled up two chairs, wishing that he could have brought his iPod or DS, but seeing Sakura sleep soundly was good enough for him. Smiling, he pet her head as she mumbled in her sleep, "Sasuke-kun?"

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No." Her eyes winked open a little bit, and she tried to keep them open. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, sweetheart. You said it once."

"It's not okay! I can't imagine the horror you and Naruto had to go through just because of me…and I'm the reason for it." She was now sitting up, rubbing her eyes. "I…just wanted you both to be happy without me."

"Honey, don't talk about that. You're not thinking right right now. We can talk about this later. But you're tired, and you need to go back to sleep. I'll be here all night, Sakura. I promise."

"Really?" she murmured. He took her hand in his again.

"Really."

"Sasuke-kun?" she whispered as he kissed her cheek softly. "C-Can you…can you sleep here with me?"

"Won't you be cramped?" he asked, looking at the small cot. She shook her head. "I'm cold."

He walked straight into her arms, holding her tight as they lay on the mattress together, clothes against clothes. For some reason, it felt more erotic than when they were both naked, exploring each other's bodies. He loved every second of it and didn't want to let her go from his grasp. Her head was buried in his chest while his arms were around her waist, making sure she felt his whole body heat warm her soul.

"Do you feel better?" he asked. She nodded against him, clenching her fists against the cotton of his shirt. "I feel warmer with Sasuke-kun by my side."

"I'm always going to be by you, Sakura. I promised you that a long time ago. I'm still here, aren't I?"

He felt one of her warm tears drip onto his arm. "I love you," she whispered, her leg wrapped around his waist. "I love you so, so much."

Sasuke kissed her forehead, mouthing the unsaid words, but both of them knew exactly what he said. "Go to sleep," he replied as he wrapped the blanket over her, giving only a part for himself. She yawned again, her hands still tightly bunched on his shirt, and rested her head against her hard, smooth pillow.

.

.

.

Karin was glad that she took track in middle school. How else would she be able to run away from those crazy officers and those backstabbing bitches of "friends?" Panting as she continued to run throughout the city, the lights blazing bright (Konoha _was _called the New York of Japan), she stopped in a 24/7 convenience store to buy food to eat.

"Hey, aren't you that—" one customer came to her and said. Turning around, she noticed posters and flyers all over the wall with her picture on it. The reason? _Attempted murder_.

The customer took a look from the poster to her, and panicked. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…" She took out her cell phone and quickly dialed 119 as Karin realized the situation.

Grabbing food off the shelves, she dashed out, setting off the alarm while running through red lights, causing cars to immediately stop and honk. Getting through the roads safely, she heard the blare of police sirens and cursed. "Shit!"

There was nowhere to run. There were people at every turn, and having bright red hair didn't help the situation, since the lights were perhaps, on her enemy's side.

"This shouldn't be the way my life was going to go!" she screamed. "I was supposed to have it all until _she _took it!"

Karin began to cry, grasping onto her food and clawing onto the sidewalk, her fingers bleeding. "I hate this! I hate this!"

The sirens were getting closer, and Karin knew what she had to do. The skyscraper was open late at night until 2 am, and that was her only option. There were no forests, no bridges, and nowhere she could call "safe" from people.

With her teeth, she opened a bag of chips and quickly scarfed some down. _I was hoping for a better last meal…_

Karin managed to swerve herself in between traffic and people, barging into the doors of the building, and before she knew it, she was on the roof, the cold wind blowing against her as she leaned against the railing, looking at the cement sidewalk ten stories down.

She put one leg over the railing, and brought herself to bring the other over, too, using the railing to support her balance.

Suddenly, ten stories seemed like a hundred. She felt fear in her chest, and wanted to go back down, but knew that she would have to surrender if she decided to choose life.

She would rather choose death than surrender.

All she had to do was let go and fly.

There was no turning back.

* * *

**yeah yeah, the sasusaku scene was sappy. cut the crap and just enjoy it.**

**poor karin ,i actually feel bad for her lol. **

**review now. and please dondt lfame me saying that sakuras a weak bitch. what if yOU had to go through all this shit?**

**yeah**

**sasusaku together again now! haha!**

**the stories almost done. but untilt hen REVIEWWWWWWW**


	22. twenty second, it'll be alright, he says

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Naruto was walking home, humming a silent tune to himself as he smiled through his pain. He tried not to think about it and hoped that Karin would be caught and reprimanded for her actions soon.

In the background he heard the faint sound of sirens buzzing back and forth and thought it may have been a fire. Nonetheless, he kept moving until he heard the sirens buzzing louder and louder. Police cars passed by him at frightening speed, and ambulances whizzed by in the back.

When he walked for about another block, he saw a group of people huddling around a building, looking up, the police cars surrounding the building and the paramedics coming out of the ambulance. Cops held megaphones and tried to persuade something to surrender. Naruto, deciding to see what the commotion was, made his way to the building. He looked up.

Someone was going to jump.

It was high up, and he couldn't see the figure properly, but he knew it was a female by the way the long hair flew. Long choppy hair.

Choppy hair…?

Naruto immediately grabbed the megaphone from the officer, who reprimanded him. Ignoring the cop, Naruto shouted, "Karin! Come down! You don't have to do this—!"

He knew that she should have been scared out of her mind, but as badly as he felt for her, he wouldn't let her get off the hook like this. No matter how much he pitied the girl, she couldn't get away with what she'd done to him, Sasuke, and especially Sakura. Suicide was the easy way out, and she was a coward.

"KARIN!" he shouted again. "IF YOU JUMP, SAKURA WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

He could hear her faint screams: the first ones of panic, the second of a reply.

"She'll never forgive me! Never! Not after what I've done!" For some reason, Naruto knew that she was crying.

"WHAT ABOUT SASUKE?" he saw her freeze. "You love him very much, I know that. We all do—you, me, and Sakura. Would you give up seeing him forever?"

"He hates me! Sasuke hates me, and there's nothing I can do…if only that pink haired girl hadn't gotten in the way—"

He knew that she was crying again when she didn't respond. She was still holding onto the railing behind her, and looking down. Still hoping to talk her into a conversation so that she wouldn't jump, he began again. "But you still love him. Would you rather be separated from him forever or see him happy? If you love him, you would like to see him smile and be happy all the time, wouldn't you?"

She didn't respond. When she uttered a reply, policemen were on the roof, rescuing her from her suicide attempt, being hit as she struggled to pry free, yelling to Naruto, "You tricked me! You fucking bastard, you fucking _tricked_ me! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I _hate _you!"

The policemen howled in pain as she bit them, punched them, and kicked them. One held her legs, the other handcuffed her.

"Karin-san, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Haruno Sakura…"

Naruto wasn't trying to trick Karin. He just wanted justice for Sakura. And, giving back the megaphone to the police officer, he stood there watching as she struggled free, until he couldn't watch anymore and walked home, ready for whatever punishment he was going to get.

.

.

.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she managed her hoarse voice to come out. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah. What's wrong, Sakura? Why can't you sleep?" he asked. She sighed, laying her head on Sasuke's chest.

"I'm really sorry about everything. I feel like it's partially my fault for the whole thing, and I sometimes think, 'What could I have changed about this? What could have been different?'"

_And if I didn't ever meet you, nothing would have been like this…but loving you erases the pain that we've been through together._

She snuggled closer to him and he kissed her forehead softly.

"Don't be sorry. It's all over now. The past is the past and we're in the present." He made her look up at his soft eyes. "Everything's going to be different now since you're by my side."

"Different?" she asked.

"We'll be happy. I promise. Nothing's going to get in our way. It'll be just you, me, and the occasional Naruto. But mostly just us."

Sakura breathed, "That'll be nice. I can't wait." She held onto his waist tighter and he welcomed her into his arms, a warm embrace as he kissed her all over, watching as she responded to his tender affections. Even though he had only kissed her before, he felt like a professional at it. Sasuke sure was a quick learner.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered. Looking at him straight in the eye with a confident expression on her face, she said, "I want you to touch me."

She led his hands to her chest and he blushed, unable to look into her face, embarrassed.

"Sakura…"

"Please?" the way her voice quivered and how her eyes begged didn't help his throbbing erection. He could have her right here, right now in the small cot at after midnight and she would love it as much as him. But he knew that she wasn't thinking straight and he was afraid he might hurt her due to his uncontrolled passion.

"Not tonight, Sakura," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "Don't get me wrong, I want to do it too. In fact, I'd like to make love to you very much, but right now, none of us are exactly in a normal mood and we should wait until the situation gets better."

"But you do want me, right?" Sakura asked. "You do long for me?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I long for you very much. Can you feel this?" he held her tight and she squeaked as she felt his erection poke against her stomach. Seeing how embarrassed she was, he pulled back and cupped her cheek. "See how crazy you make me?"

"Yeah." She snuggled closer to Sasuke. "Then just hold me."

"I will," he said. "I told you, I'll hold you all night long. I'll always be by your side. I'll protect you when you need it. And I'll continue to love you all the while."

He looked down at her head to see her reaction, but what he saw instead was a sleep girl on his chest, holding him tight as she snored quietly. Sighing, he smiled, kissed her forehead good night, and tried his best to also fall asleep as peacefully as his love, hoping everything was okay with Naruto.

.

.

.

All hell broke out in the Uzumaki household.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you know how worried we were? When you said you were leaving with Sasuke, did you guys fool around to do something else? I trusted you, Naruto! I trusted you and you betrayed me! My only son—" she kept hitting him as he took it, unable to say or do anything. Minato tried to pry his wife free, but she kept on crying and aiming for Naruto.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, unable to tell them everything due to the fact they wouldn't understand. "You can give me all the punishment you want now. You can do anything you need to now. Because I won't run away." He then looked up, clenching his fists and giving one of his big, goofy grins. "Because my friend taught me an important lesson not to run away when something's hard and to stay strong when you want to achieve your goals!"

"S-Sasuke?"

"Of course! Who else would it be?" Naruto said. "Who else understands me like him?"

Kushina, realizing what she'd done to her son who was bruising and smiling and crying all at the same time, dropped herself and embraced Naruto tight, hugging him and kissing him and begging for an apology. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun, Mommy didn't mean to hit you. She loves you very much and was just worried sick about you…"

He patted his mother's back in hopes that _he _would comfort _her_. "It's okay, mom. I know you wanted the best for me, so thank you." He kissed her cheek and wiped away her tears. "So don't cry now, mom. Dad and I love you and we don't want to see you like this." They both laughed quietly together, Minato wrapping his arms around his family.

"Let's just sit here for a while," he said. "And just relax and forget everything."

.

.

.

Karin was so angry she could have actually killed somebody. And her first target was Sakura. But she'd already went down that road unsuccessfully, and look where she was now.

"You'll be in court in three days," the officers said after dressing her in her uniform and putting her into a single cell with no cellmate (fortunately). "You're lucky you're not getting the death sentence." As the officers walked away, Karin stumbled and held onto the bars, yelling at them to let her go, shrieking and clawing at the stone until her fingernails bled.

She knew there was no way out. Suicide was impossible unless she could bite her tongue off, and Karin obviously knew that there was no point in trying anymore. She would take whatever punishment she would get, because Lord knew that she deserved it. Anger, greed, and jealousy got in the way and killed her worse than real death could.

"You know, she could always get the insanity plea," one of the officers said as they watched Karin struggle for a bit until she relaxed and fell asleep, sobbing. "Although I don't know if she's faking it or not. She's a pretty good actress if she is, though."

The other officers flicked the back of his head. "Shut up."

They handed the warden the keys and left, making sure everyone's cells were put out and everyone went to sleep.

.

.

.

"Can you try walking, sweetheart?" the nurse asked as she and Sasuke helped Sakura from her bed. Sakura's toes felt numb and strange to her for not using them for so long, and she gripped Sasuke's shoulder as he held onto her waist, supporting her.

"Come on, Sakura, you can do it," he urged, watching as she took one step forward. She stumbled again, caught only by Sasuke's strong and familiar hands, and smiled at him.

"I can do it," she said. "You can let go now." He took her hand gently, gripping hard, until she took another step. He kept loosening it with each walk, until he let go of her hand and she was walking by herself, even if it was jagged, shaky steps.

"Good job, Sakura," he said as he chuckled, watching as she laughed every time she moved her legs. "You did it."

Sakura turned around to walk back towards him, and he opened his arms out wide for her to jump into. Once she made it towards him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laughed. "I love you," she said again.

"I love you too, sweetheart," he said, kissing her forehead as he held her tight.

_I'll buy her the ring first, and _then _propose to her. After all, once she sees that I've already got it, she can't refuse, can she?_

He let her off after holding her up a couple inches above the air, and said, "Now try walking again." Letting the nurse go to attend to other patients, he would take care of Sakura for this session, next week's, and for the rest of her life.

With every step, she grew stronger and more confident, and he loved her even more.

* * *

**finally updated lol. it's almost done. maybe about 2-4 more chapters left? lol?**

**i hve to rename my chapters now in order for it to make sense.**

**REVIEW OR DIE! I WORKED DAMN HARD ON THIS, YOU HEAR ME? -icon y-u-no plz.-**

**Y U NO REVIEW?**


	23. twenty third, he kisses it better

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

Sasuke turned on the TV, hoping that every day some news about Karin would be on. And it was.

_Officials have caught the attempted murderer, Karin (last name unrevealed for now). She will be awaiting trial, but for now, the case is closed._

Sakura was sound asleep next to him. He smiled at the TV, turned it off, and kissed her forehead gently.

"It's over, Sakura," he whispered. "It's all over." He couldn't help but give a deep chuckle, and Sakura, hearing his voice vibrate against her ear, yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun? What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He smiled at her and then dragged her into his arms. "You're here. That's all."

She hugged him back. "Yeah. I know."

They stood there in silence until he kissed her forehead. "They're serving you lunch. Can you eat by yourself? I've got to go get something."

She pursed her lips. "What do you need?"

He gave her a small smile. "It's a secret." Putting his finger to his lips, he kissed her forehead before letting the nurse pass by with Sakura's lunch, having Sakura wonder what it was he needed to get as she picked up her fork, chewing on her rice slowly.

.

.

.

He wasn't used to this. It was embarrassing having to go out and ask people what the nearest and best jewelry store was. Older women would "awwh!" at him, younger girls would squeal, and the guys just shook their head at seeing his embarrassment, hoping that they wouldn't have to be like him someday.

It was even more awkward seeing everyone in pairs while his girlfriend was in the hospital. After all they'd been through…Sasuke sighed, trying not to think of the past. He had to focus on the present. But as he scanned through the rows of jewelry (necklaces, earrings, bracelets…) he found what he was looking for.

"Which one is the best kind of ring for a sweet, pure-hearted girl?" he said, asking the attendant (luckily, male) for his opinion. The man looked up, adjusted his glasses, and smiled.

"For your girlfriend?"

_No, it's for my brother. Tch._

"Yeah."

"Let's see, here," the man said, looking over the glass. "What's your price range?"

"It doesn't matter. Anything that she'll love the best."

"You're being a little vague on your girl, boy," the man said again, using his middle finger to push his glasses up. "You don't know how many guys come in here and say that they want to find a ring for their girl, only to describe their girl as pretty, smart, funny, kind, and hot."

Sasuke sighed. He pulled out his cell phone and showed the salesperson his wallpaper—a picture of Sakura sleeping soundly on the hospital bed.

"She looks very cute. I'm sure she'd like…" the salesman stopped. "What color are her eyes?"

"Green. Forest green."

The salesman sighed. "Son, men only see the colors of the rainbow. What women think is emerald green, lime green, and forest green, all we see is green."

"Whatever," Sasuke said. "If you don't hurry the hell up, I'm going to a different store."

"Hey, hey, no need to rush! Perfection is not rushed," the man said, hoping Sasuke would stay. "Anyway…" he moved towards the emerald section. "This is a silver ring with an emerald, encrusted with diamond. It's 2 carats."

"It's perfect. I don't care how much, and I don't want to know. Just swipe this card," Sasuke said, his ears not wanting to hear how much money it was. After all, there was no price for Sakura and her love.

"Sure, sure. But just to make sure—sir, what ring size is your girlfriend?"

Sasuke paused. "Ring size?"

"Yes."

"Oh, _shit_."

.

.

.

Sasuke still hadn't come back, and Sakura was anxious for his arrival. She wanted somebody to hold onto again while she was all alone in this hospital, waiting to get out. Waiting to apologize to everyone and waiting to be protected by her loved ones.

She reached for the remote and flipped through channels. She stopped at the local news channel, where they were doing another report on Karin.

_Karin?_

Sakura rubbed her eyes, as if she saw wrong. But she didn't. Who else could mistake that bright, red hair? She saw that Karin had been arrested, and felt a pang of relief, letting out a deep breath and nearly crying.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe—"

She smiled as she began to cry, her face in her hands. "It's all over," she said. "All of it. It's finished."

.

.

.

Sasuke drove his car back to the hospital, after going back to his house and fingering the key rack in his pocket. He hadn't driven in a while, and it seemed like he just went on foot everywhere, but nonetheless, he was still confident that he could sit behind the wheel proudly.

In the garage was a sleek black car, shiny from lack of use. It was near new and, if opened, probably still had that new-car smell…but he _had _had sex in the backseat before a long time ago…maybe it was time he traded it in.

Anyway. He grabbed some Febreeze from the kitchen and sprayed it all over the leather seats, hoping that nothing would smell and that Sakura wouldn't have to be reminded of his sinful past. He himself didn't even want to think about it, now that he had Sakura. Sasuke never wanted to go back to his past one-night-stands. They all meant nothing to him now.

Buckling up his seatbelt, he turned the keys in the ignition and watched the engine come to life. Slowly, he drove out the driveway and made the familiar turns out of his neighborhood to the hospital, a ring box in his coat pocket and a smile on his face as he tuned the radio with his free hand.

.

.

.

"You're healing up just fine, Haruno-san," the nurses commented as they replaced her bandages. Her skin was nearly flawless and glowing now, like a model's, with the exception of a few nasty bruises that wouldn't seem to go away. Her peach color, one that she'd never seen before, was vibrant and beautiful and so unlike the pale, zombie flesh she was so accustomed to.

Most of the smaller bruises and cuts were gone, and the scars quickly faded over into scar tissue. Barely any of them were visible, but the large scar under her breasts was still the most noticeable when seen and the old skin was marred by the new skin. Some would say it looked disgusting. Sakura thought it was beautiful.

"I'm a survivor," she murmured to herself as she pressed her finger along the sides. "I made it through."

The nurses turned their heads. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" they asked. Sakura shook them off. "Nothing. I was just talking to myself." She gave them a smile and they raised the corner of their own lips for a second before replacing the IV fluids and throwing away the old bandages.

In the distance, Sakura could hear an engine die down.

.

.

.

"I hope you didn't wait long," Sasuke said as he ran in, smiling at seeing how well Sakura was. She smiled back and reached her arms out for a hug.

"I did."

"I'm sorry," he said, after pulling back. "It took me longer than I expected." He readjusted his jacket so that the bulge wouldn't show, and sat down next to her, taking her hand. "The doctors say that you can be discharged from the hospital today."

"That's good," she said. She squeezed his hand for a second before lying down and looking at the ceiling. Then, she took a deep breath.

"Is something wrong? Are you tired?"

"No, I'm just thinking." Sakura closed her eyes. "Sasuke, what if—" she saw his blank gaze for a second, and paused, but then decided to continue. "What if I never met you?"

"Then my life would literally suck. I had nothing to live for, Sakura, and both you and Naruto know that completely well."

"I mean, what if…" she didn't know how to phrase her sentence properly. "What if—and this is just hypothetical, I swear—what if it was Naruto who was here with me right now instead of you?"

She saw Sasuke think for a moment in anger at the simulation, and his hands squeezed tighter to hers. "I…I don't know, honestly. I'd guess I'd continue the lifestyle I used to have. I remember when I would always ache thinking about you, and wanting you all for myself…" he ran his fingers under her chin. "And now you're all mine." He kissed her forehead softly. "Go to sleep?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not tired."

"Then we'll just talk some more about other stuff." She saw that he didn't want to be bothered with the topic. "Your skin looks beautiful. It's like…you're glowing. Like an angel."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle. "Thank you." Taking another look at her newly healed flesh, she couldn't help but smile again. She could have been pretty before. But she felt so beautiful now, especially with Sasuke at her side.

"You're my angel."

He leaned down to kiss her softly and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tight. He loomed over her while she continued to lie back on the cot, and when he pulled back, he saw her smile gently as she pressed her forehead to his own.

"You're very good."

Sasuke gave a small chuckle. "What can I say? I'm a fast learner." He tried to close the distance between the two, but at that time, the doctor walked in with the discharge forms and began to speak, until he looked up and saw what moment he was interrupting.

"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. I can come back at a later—"

"No, it's fine," Sasuke said, embarrassed. Sakura hid under the sheets. "What do I need to sign?"

"Here, and here…signature here and the patient's name here…" the doctor continued to explain the procedures to Sasuke, who, with a pen, completed everything.

"Now, Haruno-san. Let's get you in a wheelchair so you can go home."

.

.

.

After getting dressed, Sakura sat down in the wheelchair, her hands in her lap and her ankles crossed. Sasuke was wheeling her out into his car and, when they reached the door, helped her up and opened it for her.

"It's good to see that you've done so much better, Haruno-san." The doctor smiled at her. "I'm glad you're well now. You're perfectly healthy and if your boyfriend keeps caring for you like this, you'll probably be the next David Hasselhoff." He gave a small chuckle and waved them off. "Bye-bye, now." Then, he turned and left.

"Are you ready to go home?" Sasuke asked as he got into the driver's seat, giving the wheelchair to the nurse. She nodded, buckling her seatbelt and staring out the window where she spent most of her clearer memories in. The miscarriage, the heartbreaks, the healing…all of it. They were all in there.

"Something wrong? Did you forget anything?" Sasuke asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Nothing."

They drove off as Sasuke put his hand over hers, holding her tight and squeezing her small hand. Sakura knew even without words, it meant what Sasuke couldn't say out loud.

_I'm not letting you go._

.

.

.

Sasuke didn't know the best time to propose to her. He really wanted a romantic setting, but at the same time, he wanted it to be quick and spontaneous. The box was burning a hole in his jacket and he really wanted to see her expression when she got the ring.

Damnit, he couldn't wait anymore.

At the next red light, he turned to Sakura and called out her name. It was deep, serious, and clear, ringing in her ears and made her shiver in pleasure.

"What is it?"

Glancing towards the street light, he pulled out the box and opened it towards her, watching her eyes the whole time. They lit up with shock.

"W-What is this for?" she asked. She wanted to touch it, but thought against it.

"You. I—" Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. _Just take the damn thing! _"I want you to marry me. We've kind of finished school. I want you to be my wife."

"Oh, Sasuke…" he didn't know if it was the "Oh, Sasuke, you're so romantic!" type, or the "Oh, Sasuke, you're such an idiot…" Maybe it was both?

The cars behind him honked and Sasuke realized it was a green light. Needing to talk to Sakura more about this, he found the nearest parking lot and stopped the car there.

"So, what do you think?" he said, his voice shaking. Honestly, he was afraid for the answer.

"I—" Sakura began. "Sasuke-kun, I love you very much, and you know that. You don't need a ring to prove it, although it is very beautiful…" Sakura looked at it again and then back at him. "But I'm too young. _We're _too young. I want to be with you for a long time, but I also want to do what I never could do before. I want to go to school. I want to finish. I want to graduate and go to college and I've just decided to become a psychologist to help people like me who were in the same situation deal with their problems better than I have, and then…"

"Shh." Sasuke put a finger to her lips. "I get it. You want some time to think about it."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be. Here, let's make a promise. You take this first," he said, taking the ring out and sliding it onto her ring finger. Sakura loved how easily it slid on and how pretty it looked. Sasuke was inwardly surprised at how his guess for her ring size was correct, and felt pretty proud of himself.

"And whenever you feel that you're ready to marry me, you can get me a ring of my own. It doesn't have to be expensive. Anything can do. A plain silver one. A paper one. Hell, just draw one for me and we'll get married wherever you'd like. You'll be so beautiful in a long white dress, and there'll be flowers and all your friends and anything you want."

"You're planning too far ahead already, Sasuke-kun," she giggled. He stopped, smirked, and chuckled too.

"Yeah, probably. But do you promise?" he held out his pinky finger for her to take. She laughed, and then crossed it with her own.

"I promise."

He held her tight in an embrace as he kissed her all over her face, especially on her lips, and they just sat like that for a while until he whispered, "Do you need to get anything from your house?"

Sakura thought for a second. There was the family picture that she packed to bring with her when she was running away, and all the other trinkets her mom left her…

But Sakura knew that it was time to let go. The wounds had closed, and scar tissue had formed over them. The past was the past. She wouldn't cut open those scars again.

"No. Let's go home."

* * *

**i'm back from china on 9.4.11...so yeah hahaha. fanfiction wasnt blcked in china but i didnt have time to update...**

**ik this isshort and really ooc but the story is coming to an end LOL i promise there'll be a happy ending ut there will be no sequel. idc how much you beg me. im sorryi cant write a sequel. SOEM THIGS SHOULD NOT HAVE SEQUELS**

**like titanic LOLOLOL faillll**

**anyway i hope you guys like. and if you wouldnt mind ANSWERING A POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE (which is shorteend, derppp) ABOUT WHICH OF MY STORIES YOU LIKE BEST**

**kthxbai. REVIEW NOW OR DIE BITCH**


	24. twenty fourth, and he helps you up

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

He unlocked the door to his house and they both stepped in. Sakura sat down awkwardly on the sofa in the living room, whereas the couch where he had nursed her was upstairs, along with the bed that they had both…She gulped.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" he asked as he set his stuff down. Sakura shook her head, feeling her palms start to clench, unclench, and moisten.

Sasuke made himself a cup of tea and sat down next to her. Sakura, immediately feeling more and more awkward, attempted to scoot away, but he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't be afraid," he said, as if he knew what she was thinking. "I'm not going to hurt you, Sakura." He said that to her so many times and she just loved hearing it over and over again, because deep down she knew that indeed, he would never hurt her anymore. Maybe he wanted to before, but right now, all he wanted to do was protect her.

Sasuke kissed her cheek before making her tilt her head to rest on his shoulder, and Sakura felt her heart beat rapidly as she felt Sasuke's arm moving only to raise the teacup to his lips. When he was done with his beverage, he laid it down onto the table and held her in his arms, breathing in her scent.

"Sasuke-?"

"Shh," he said. "Just…just let me hold you like this." Sakura felt Sasuke's warm arms around her, the familiar smell of home on his shirt, and his soft breathing.

"Sasuke-kun." The words were quiet but still audible. He pulled away to look into her eyes, and what she wanted was him. She wanted Sasuke and damn her to hell if he didn't want her either.

He knew. By the look in her eyes, he knew that she wanted him to make love to her again. As if one time wasn't enough. He, too, knew that he wanted more than one night with her. He wanted forever.

"Sakura…" he said, as if they were going too fast. "I don't want to rush you."

She didn't say anything. Instead, she kissed him softly as she took his hand. He lifted her up and held her by her bottom, her legs straddling his waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her hands in his hair.

They fumbled through bags, stairs, and closed doors until he lied her down onto his bed, where many days ago she had given herself to him and left.

Not anymore. She wouldn't leave him alone anymore. Naruto's words echoed in her mind.

_I became friends with him…because it seemed like he needed one._

_You don't know how lonely Sasuke really is, do you?_

_He only plays with women because he wants to feel loved._

"Hey, Sakura…what's wrong?" Sasuke asked as he loomed over her. She felt tears run down her eyes and wiped them away forcefully.

"Do you not want to do this? Are you still not ready?" he asked. That's what she loved about him. He was actually so caring and gentle that she couldn't believe how lucky she was to find the real Sasuke.

"No, it's not that," she said. She held him tight to her breast. "I love you so much. I just want to tell you that. I love you. And I'm never going to leave you again, Sasuke, I promise."

"I know." He kissed her forehead. Then, he pulled back, and stared at Sakura with amazement at how he finally got this magnificent woman to be his, in his bed, waiting and willing for him.

With shaking fingers, she pulled up his shirt over his head as he helped her take it off, watching as she blushed when she saw his naked chest for the second time. Nervously, she ran her fingers over his abs and torso and loved how hard and smooth they felt under the tips. She wanted to kiss every part of him and tell the world that he was hers, only hers, and always would be. But they all probably knew that, anyway. She just wanted to brand her identity onto him.

Taking the edge of her shirt, Sasuke lifted it up just below her breasts and saw how much more beautiful her skin was without it being marred and covered in all the colors of the rainbow. However, the one thing he loved most about her beauty was the large scar underneath her breasts. He fingered it gently, the smoothness of the scar tissue that had formed over the wound. It meant that she was a survivor, and she was.

Sakura was a survivor or angst and tragedy and came through it all so well, even if there were obstacles in the way. And for that, he loved her even more.

"Stop kissing me there," she said, giggling as she held his shoulders. "It tickles!"

She could feel his deep chuckle as he gave her one final kiss, and then lifted her shirt up and over her head. Her breasts were in plain view, and she could just feel him staring at them with…awe? Shock? Admiration? After all, he had seen them before, but that was in the heat of the moment. The whole first thing was, looking back.

"You're beautiful," he said, assuring her. She was beyond perfection in his eyes. She was everything to him. He reached behind her and undid her bra strap with one hand (a previous skill from "back in the day") while his other hand cupped her right breast. Once the garment fell, he pulled it through her arms and took another long look at her naked, soft breasts.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me," she laughed shyly, attempting to cover her chest with her arms. He pried them away gently, pinning them above her head as he kissed her lips.

"I already told you this. You're the most beautiful thing in the world, and nothing you try to say or do will change my opinion." He took her breasts in his hands and cupped them. Ran his thumbs over her nipples in an outwards stroking motion. Watched them harden and Sakura try to stifle her moan.

"No, don't hide it. I love it," he said, watching as she bit her lip. "I want to hear more of it."

He continued to rub her nipples, taking her breasts in his hands and kneading them in both clockwise and counter-clockwise, watching her arch her back in response as she bit her finger, still embarrassed to cry out at a simple notion of pleasure.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I…" she began. She bit down on her lip. "I like it. I like it a lot."

He smirked. "Good." He kissed her softly again as his fingers caught her nipples, pinching them and plucking them as he felt them harden again, wet with his saliva. Sakura let out another small moan and squirmed under him, but he silenced her sweetly with every soft kiss, until his lips ran down her jaw and onto her neck. Kissed her neck with a feel of butterflies. As if he batted his eyelashes against her.

His chest pressed against hers, and he loved the feel of how his hard torso was against her soft chest. She wrapped her legs around him and her hands met at his neck while he attempted to separate her thighs with his knee, pushing them apart. She nervously opened her legs for him, still wearing her bottom clothes, and his jeans were about to burst at the sight of her full body from a far distance.

Sasuke looked her straight in the eye, and she sent a signal through her clear orbs: _I want this. I want _you_. _So he helped her remove her pants and almost blushed heavily when he realized that she was nearly naked under him, except for her panties which were…already soaking.

Using his middle and index finger, he pressed against her core and watched her jolt, giving a small shriek as she tightened her grip on his hair. "Sasuke!" she squealed as he kept pressing against her, using his fingers to thrust in. Then, with her panties still on, he "crept" in from the side and stuck his digit in, watching her thrive and hold on tighter to him.

She was so moist and wet and sticky, he loved all of it. Wanted to lap up her juices like a dog needing water. She drove him insane and he couldn't wait to plunge himself inside of her. Savor his time. The first time wasn't as pleasurable for her as it was for him. He wanted to make sure it was special, even more than before.

Her moans were like sweet music, and the way she moved her hips with his now two fingers (she was very tight) made him even harder and achier. Finally, he removed her sopping panties as Sakura blushed. Whispering in her ear for comfort and asking if she wanted to continue, she nodded and shivered as he bit her earlobe while undoing his jeans, letting them fall to the floor while his boxer shorts were about to come off. His erection was standing straight up and Sakura nearly yelped at the sight of seeing his hardened cock again.

She muttered something, but he couldn't hear it.

"I'm sorry, love. Say that again?"

"C-Condom…" she blushed while saying that word, unable to meet his gaze. Remembering what had happened last time and all the pain that had happened _because _he had forgotten to use one…he pulled one out, half-thanking her for reminding him but the other half wanting another child to take care of with her. A tangible something that they had made together.

Sakura blushed and turned away as he put it on after removing his boxers. "Are you ready?"

She nodded slowly. Bit her lip. "You'll be…uhm, you know, right?"

"Of course I will." He kissed her forehead. "You tell me when it hurts, and you can bite my shoulder or claw my back. And if you don't like something, just say stop. I'll do my best to make you feel as comfortable as I can, but I can't promise anything. You're making me wild," he said, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, leaning on his elbow with the other. "I can't stand it."

She smiled up at him. Tears of joy were in her eyes. She reached up to kiss him. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you so much."

Sakura didn't need his verbal response to know how he felt about her. He looked her in the eye, gave her a small smile, and nodded when he was about to go in. She remembered the first time he went inside her, and, panicking a little, held tight fistful of his hair in her hands. Her walls tightened around him and he realized this, making sure to squirm in so that he could fit himself without hurting her.

"S-Sasuke," she moaned.

"You're okay?"

"Y-Yes. I'm fine. Keep going." Her grip loosened and she held his forearms, kissing him as he began to thrust in her. It wasn't like before where the sensation was beautiful and so free, just flesh on flesh and the actual feel of his cock inside of her, not the thin rubber that prevented joys and tragedies.

Her breasts were in his hands as he kept kneading her, kissing the scar underneath her mounds and thrusting as she rocked her hips against him, feeling nothing but pleasure in their lovemaking. She didn't care if anybody heard her. Didn't care if Sasuke heard her. She would be embarrassed later, but for now, she let out shrill cries of passion that matched with Sasuke's groans and rhythmic thrusts. Then, she felt a small jolt in her lower region near the pelvis.

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed out through her lips. They were both sweaty and his brow was drenched in sweat. He kissed her softly as he continued to thrust in her, attempting to talk at the same time.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"I—I'm going to…" she arched her back as Sasuke felt his own orgasm coming, both of them crying out as he held Sakura's face in his hands and her own arms were wrapped around his neck. Their chests were touching and he kept thrusting even harder and faster into her. She felt tears in her eyes begin drip down her cheeks from the amount of pleasure that was coming and wrapped her legs even tighter around his hips.

"Sasuke-kun!" she shouted as she realized the same wave of pleasure that had hit her one time before. Sasuke felt the same way. He was still in her when he released his seed all over the condom, feeling how warm and wet she still was as he pulled out, missing the feel of her womanhood wrapped around him. He hadn't realized how amazing she was, though it was only her second time. This orgasm was different than the first one, even with the rubber. It was sweeter. More passionate. Full of love.

Her cum soaked the outside of the condom and he took it off his now limp penis, throwing it into the trash where he used to throw so many other condoms away before. Now it would just be her.

"I can…I can get the pill, you know," she said, looking at Sasuke, still breathing heavily. She bet that his heart raced as fast as her own. "If it'll make you feel better."

"Sakura…" he began. Then, he kissed her deeply. Just held her tight against his body and kissed her. Their sweat mixed together and he held her so tight that she couldn't breathe. Then, he pulled back and looked in her eye. Smiled. Kissed her again.

"Don't talk about that right now. I just…let me hold you." He covered the blankets over them and she laughed softly, wrapping her arms around his chest, resting her head against his breast. His heart beat rapidly, almost in sync with her own.

"I love you," he murmured. "Don't…don't leave me."

"I won't," she said. "I promised you that, right?"

Sasuke blinked back hot tears. Sakura pretended not to see them, snuggling tighter into him. "Besides, I love you, too."

.

.

.

Sasuke woke up, the memories of last night still playing in his brain. He smiled, yawned, and reached over to kiss Sakura. Only to have his lips meet with air.

"Sakura?" he shouted. He sat straight up, trying to kick the tangled blankets off. "Sakura!" Panic arose through him, and he hoped that it wasn't what it used to be. Where she left him. She promised she wouldn't leave him, though. She promised!

"Sakura—" he opened the door to his room, only to almost crash into Sakura, dressed and carrying a cup of tea in her hand.

"Sasuke? Why are you up so early?" she laughed, looking at his naked figure as he panicked. "I just went to go make some tea. Do you want so—?" she was interrupted as the cup fell the floor, the tea staining the carpet. But Sasuke didn't care. He held her tight in his arms, almost crying out of joy.

"You're still here," he said, holding her waist. "Sakura, my love, you didn't leave me. You didn't disappear. You…you're still here."

Sakura, realizing what she had done to scare Sasuke, put her arms around him and kissed his cheek. Looked at _him _straight in the eye.

"Of course, silly," she said, trying to cheer him up with her light laugh. "I promised you, didn't I?"

He kissed her again and again, holding her tight to his body. She might have left once. But with the life that she had right now, and the two beautiful men in her life—one a lover and another a friend, how could she throw it all away?

* * *

**tch yeah lemonnn. haven't written one in forever.**

**ending in two chapters at most, i promise. i can't believe it's almost over! LOL**

**REVIEW OR NO UPDATE**


	25. epilogue: soon scar tissue forms

**title:** scar tissue.  
**prompt:** triangle, by lazybaby. one of my favorite stories. and the scars i like to pick at.  
**rating:** M  
**summary:** She's not sure whether it's the physical scars or the mental ones that are killing her. Maybe it's both. Because after all, some scars don't heal if you keep on picking at them.

**note:** this is a MULTICHAPTER fic. which means that i'm probably never going to update frequently. maybe once every two weeks, LOL. until the end of the story, i expect lots of reviews! =D love you guys, haha!  
**warning:** sasusakunaru. if you don't like narusaku, please don't bitch about it to me, because there's only gonna be a little bit. kthxbai.

**dedication to; rhyrhy. ilymorethanfreakin'life.**

* * *

**s**_c_a**r **_t_i**s**_s_u**e**

.

.

**.**

He held her hand in his as they finished eating breakfast, snuggling together for a little bit as she kissed his jaw softly.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said quietly. Her arms were around his neck.

"Hm?"

"I was wondering…" she began. Clearing her throat so that her voice sounded louder, she repeated, "I wanted to see…if we could go visit Naruto."

Sasuke half-froze. He knew that she cared for Naruto and he did, too, but after all that they had been through, and seeing his best friend again with the girl that they both loved…he was afraid that they would cause him pain, but at the same time he wanted nothing more than to give Naruto a hug.

"Sasuke-kun?" her soft voice interrupted his thoughts. He shook the bangs out of his face and tried to give her a smile. It was only a simple turning of his lips, but to her, it meant the world.

"Yeah. Let's go visit Naruto."

.

.

.

Sasuke punched in the speed dial for Naruto onto his cell phone, waited for the rings, before shoving it into Sakura's hand. "Here," he said quickly. "You talk."

She held the phone up to her ear and it continued to ring. Sakura was almost certain that he wouldn't pick up after seeing the caller ID, but on the sixth ring, she could hear the bright voice she missed so much.

"Hello?"

"Naruto?"

There was an awkward silence, before he spoke again. "Sakura-chan."

"Hi, Naruto. It's me."

More silence. Sasuke held his breath as he watched Sakura's shoulder tense.

"I missed you," he said. "I hope…is teme treating you well?" he half-joked.

"I miss you too." She didn't respond to the last part. "I just…is it okay if I visit you? I want to see you again."

"Of course!" he said, almost too brightly. Sakura jumped at how eager he was. There was so much zeal in his voice, so much excitement. "I'd love it."

"Great. Great," she said, nearly tearing up. Her voice became unsteady and she almost laughed as she cried. "I can't wait to see you. Can we meet at the park?"

She heard him take a swift intake of breath and remembered what had happened so long ago. Where he kissed her and admitting everything. But instead of changing places, he said, "Yeah. Let's meet there."

"Great," she repeated. "See you soon."

"Bye, Sakura-chan."

She hung up the phone and handed it back to Sasuke. Then, tears pouring down freely, she hugged Sasuke around the waist and sobbed into his chest, laughing in the midst of it because she was so happy.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm so happy…it's almost scary. Is it bad to feel this happy? I can't…I can't explain it. It's like…do you know what I mean?"

He held her close to him and put his chin on top of her head, staring above her as he rubbed her back in small circles. "Yeah, sweetheart. I know what you mean. I'm happy right now, too."

Sakura pulled away and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, grabbing a tissue and blowing her nose. "I'm sorry. It's just—"

"Shh." He put a finger to her lips. "I know."

She sat back on his lap as he comforted her, giving her small kisses as she watched the clock.

.

.

.

It was still Naruto. From far away he looked the same, but from close up he was not the Naruto she used to know. His blonde hair lost its zing, and his usually sparkling eyes were a bit dimmed. There were bags under his irises from not sleeping very much (which she felt guilty about), and his lips drooped. But it all changed when he saw her again. He immediately brightened up, his eyes regaining that lost twinkle and his lips curving up into a bright smile, canine teeth showing.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed. She let go of Sasuke's hand and ran up to him as he held his arms wide open for her. She jumped into his chest and inhaled the scent she was so used to—tangerine and ramen—but smiled and cried and laughed all at the same time. She could feel his own tears drip onto her hair and she pulled back, rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs.

"You're still beautiful as ever, Sakura-chan," he said quietly as he brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. "And where's—"

"Dobe." The one word was hidden with teasing, but Naruto knew that it was also full of friendship and brotherhood as he looked up above Sakura's head to see Sasuke, hands in his pockets, looking straight at his best friend. Sakura, realizing the heaviness between the two, pulled away. She quietly walked towards the side as she saw the unfinished, silent business between the two.

None of them said anything for a while until Sasuke held out his right hand, his left still in his pocket. Naruto looked at it, and then back at Sasuke's eyes, before saying, "What the hell is this?"

Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto pulled him into a tight hug and buried his head in his friend's shoulder. "God damnit, Sasuke, I've missed you so much." Sasuke could feel his own happiness surge and put a hand on Naruto's back, giving him a brotherly hug, nothing like the loving ones he reserved for Sakura.

She, seeing this beautiful scene between the two, began to cry again and tried to stifle her noises. They both stopped to look at her, who was smiling and covering her nose and mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry," she said, half-laughing. "But you two are just so beautiful."

Then, Naruto walked up to her and held her small hand in his big, calloused one. "There won't be any more pain from here on out, you hear me? No more. It'll just be us three, and we'll be so happy that you'll be scared because happiness like this is unbelievable."

Sakura smiled. "I know." She reached up on her tiptoes and put her arms around Naruto's neck, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. A good-bye kiss. Naruto took a deep inhale and almost winced, as if he knew this was the end and the last chance that he could ever pursue her again. He would try and learn to love someone else, but at the same time, nobody could ever replace Sakura. "Thank you," she whispered.

She pulled away after her lips settled on his cheek. Then, she walked back to Sasuke, who put his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her softly. Naruto, giving a small smile to his love and his best friend, gave a chuckle and told another corny joke. One that they were both so used to hearing before. Although she wasn't his and never would be, seeing her happy made him happy, too. Maybe he couldn't give her everything Sasuke could. But she would have been happy with him, too. There would have been no pain. No suffering. None of this would have happened—with Karin, with the baby, with the runaways. If only she had been with him.

But sometimes life just works in really weird ways, Naruto knew as they took a walk in the park together. He eyed the bench that he gave his first kiss on, and what the circumstances were that night when he took her home after her yelling. But he smiled, watching as Sakura laughed while being with him and Sasuke, and how her hair flew softly in small parts, her eyes sparkled even more so when she was happy, her lips were more of a U shape rather than frowning, and her skin.

It glowed, like an angel's. There were no more blotchy colors. No purple, no black, no blue, no yellow. None of it. It was all gone. What was left was creamy white perfection. And when her hand was in his, he knew how smooth and soft it felt. And he was glad that she wasn't all the colors of the rainbow anymore.

"Let's sit down," she said as she took both boys' hands and led them to the bench. Sakura knew that she had shared memories with Naruto here, but that her memories would be with Sasuke now. She sat in the middle as Naruto sat on her left and Sasuke sat on her right. She folded her ankles and continued to hold both their hands in her own, looking up at the sky and laughing.

"Look!" she said. The sun was coming out from behind the clouds and nearly blinding their vision. But she continued to smile and look up anyway, squinting as she jumped up, yelling without a care, "Thank you, God!" _For giving me a chance to make things right. For giving me a chance to _live_._

She continued to wave at the sky as people stared at her. But she didn't care. None of them did anymore. She was happy, and with two beautiful people always with her, how could she feel as if her life wasn't worth living?

**There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with. **

_—Harry Crews_

* * *

**it's over LOL! i know this chapter was short and a little cheesy and stuff, buti hope you guys liked idt anywya. i can' believe that this is actually done! it'st probably my first actual TRUE NOT THAT CRAPPY multi-chaptered story i've finisehd, so i feel kind nof proud LOL. and i can't tpe right now because my hands are cold and numb. **

**i added some sasunaru in there because i love the brotherly friendship but as you know, i HATEHATEHATE the yaoi. ugh. i jsut can't stand the two together, though people make really bueatiful fanarts of them. and then narusaku. poor naruto! i love narusaku so xD**

**i wanted to kind of make it like uwasa no midori-kun, where tsukasa loves her but he lets hergo to kazuma...though i really wanted a midori/tsukasa pairing LOL. faillll**

**my life has been minserable right nowbut it's kay because you guys are awesome. this chapter is really cliche and whatnot, but i hpoe you guys like it nonetheless and REVIEW. OMFG IF I GOT TO 500 THAT WOULD BE LIKE, MY LIFE IN A NUTSHELL**

**so yeah. and btw, last chapter's ending was ad esire climax reference i forgot to add. i loe DC and add it into every one of my fics if i can. LAWL**

**i know i'm sad to that it's over but i'll work on something else now! hopefully someting i'l finish first before i start a new thing again! HAHAHHA**

**reviewreviewreview**


End file.
